South Korea wants Bithumb owner sentenced to 8 years in prison

South Korea wants Bithumb owner sentenced to 8 years in prison
The former head of the South Korean exchange is being prosecuted in a more than $70 million BXA token fraud case

The South Korean Prosecution Service has asked the court to sentence Lee Jong-hoon, owner of South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, to eight years in prison on charges of fraud worth more than $70 million (100 billion Korean won), a local publication reported. The trial concerns a 2018 investor fundraiser related to the Bithumb Coin (BXA) token.

South Korea's largest exchange at the time, Bithumb, announced its own BXA coin in the spring of 2018. In October of that year, the exchange owner offered to invest in the token to BK Group chairman Kim Mo, who agreed and contributed about 112 billion won ($77 million) to Hoon's venture.

The exchange never listed the BXA token. The investors filed a class action lawsuit against Hoon and Mo, but the latter was thrown out of the case by the court. After that, Moe himself sued the Bithumb owner. Investors' funds were never recovered.

According to the prosecutor, since the amount of damages is very high and Hong did not admit his guilt, he should be sentenced to 8 years in prison. The sentencing will take place on Dec. 20.

In July of this year, the head of crypto platform Titanium Blockchain pleaded guilty to $21 million in fraud. The company's CEO spent investor funds from the BAR token ICO to pay for loans and rent a condominium in Hawaii.

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