On 3rd January, the 34th Division of the Criminal Agreement of the Seoul Central District Court proceeded with 1st trial of Bithumb’s Former Chairman, Lee Jung-hoon and he was found not guilty.
It was an ongoing case since October 2018 and he was accused of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment Of Specific Economic Crimes due to fraud.
As per prosecutors, Lee allegedly defrauded $70 million from Kim Byung-gun, the founder of BK Group, during negotiations for the acquisition of Bithumb.
Kim was promised that BXA would get listed and he used part of the down payment with the payment earned from pre-selling BXA.
However, BXA coins were not listed and the takeover of Bithumb Korea eventually fell through as well.
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said that they respect the court's ruling and Bithumb is operated under a system of “professional managers”.
Also it clarified that former Chairman Lee Jeong-hoon is not involved in the management of Bithumb.