South Korean Police Restarts Investigation in the Bithumb Fraud Case

It looks like the troubles for crypto exchange Bithumb aren’t ending anytime soon! On Monday, August 2, the South Korean police reopened an investigation into the Bithumb fraud case involving the former chairman of the exchange.

The news comes just within a month’s period after top executives of Bithumb were indicted by Hong Kong regulators in July involving a fraud case. However, post this, a group of 14 investors filed their second fraud case. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has started probing Bithumb’s former chairman Lee Jung-hoon.

As reported by local publication The Korean Herald, Kim Byung-gun, chairman of BK Group is also linked to the fraud case and is now under investigation. The publication reports:

In the complaint, the investors said they had offered 718 bitcoins and 7,793 Ethereum, worth 6.92 billion won ($6.01 million), to Kim in October 2018 after he vowed to take over Bithumb Korea and said an unlisted coin called BXA would get issued and listed.

Failing Promises of Bithumb Korea Takeover

It turns out that Kim’s promises to investors and media have fallen flat. The takeover of Bithumb Koran never materialized as the investors’ money went to Lee. The investors further argued that Kim and Lee are accomplices in this matter.

The sale of Bithumb Korea was scheduled back in September 2019. As per reports, Kim made a payment of $100 million to Lee, however, he didn’t pay the balance. furthermore, the listing of BXA never happened as publicized leading to massive losses to the investors.

Last year, the South Korean police had conducted a similar investigation after investors’ complaints. As said, the Seoul Police indicted Lee last month for defrauding Kim of $1000 million.

With the recent filing, the group of 14 investors has submitted additional evidence to the police involving recordings. Regulators worldwide have been acting tough and have started hunting down exchanges with suspicious behavior. The cryptocurrency regulatory landscape across the world is evolving.