Supreme Court Confirms Not Guilty Verdict for Former Bithumb Chairman Lee Jung-hoon on 110 Billion Won Fraud Charges

Former Bithumb Holdings and Bithumb Korea board chairman Lee Jeong-hoon, who was prosecuted on charges of fraud involving approximately 110 billion KRW, was acquitted by the Supreme Court.

According to the legal community on the 17th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) upheld the lower court's verdict that acquitted Lee, who was charged with fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Lee was indicted on charges of deceiving Kim, chairman of BK Group, in October 2018 by proposing the acquisition of Bithumb and issuing so-called 'Bithumb Coin' (BXA), promising to list it on Bithumb, and embezzling about 112 billion KRW as a deposit.

Kim trusted Lee's words and used part of the proceeds from the presale of BXA as funds to purchase Bithumb shares; however, the prosecution found that BXA was not listed on Bithumb and Kim's acquisition of Bithumb was also canceled.

However, the first trial court ruled that the credibility of the testimonies from Kim and other victims was insufficient, stating, "It cannot be recognized that Lee guaranteed the coin listing in the contract with the victims," and acquitted him.

The second trial court also acquitted Lee, stating, "Some exaggerated statements and breaches of duty to inform may be partially considered in civil liability, but they are insufficient to regard the contract itself as fraud punishable under criminal law." The Supreme Court also found no issues with the lower court's ruling and dismissed the prosecutor's appeal.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.