South Korean prosecutors have indicted Lee Jung-hoon – the former chairman of Bithumb Holdings, the parent company of Bithumb Korea, which operates Bithumb’s crypto exchange – on charges of fraud.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Lee on Tuesday, but didn’t take him into custody.
According to an investigation report released by prosecutors, Lee allegedly swindled $100 million from Kim Byung Gun, chairman of BK Group and founder of a line of cosmetic surgery clinics, during a deal to negotiate Kim’s acquisition of Bithumb Holdings.
Lee managed to secure 8 billion won ($7 million) from more than 50 investors for the BXA project. He also pre-sold around 30 billion won ($26.4 million) in BXA tokens on the promise that the tokens would be listed on Bithumb. Those investors ended up suing both Lee and Kim for fraud in March 2020, but charges against Kim have since been dropped.
Buyers of the pre-sold BXA tokens filed their own suit against Lee and Kim in April , but charges Kim in that case have also been dropped.
Police investigators have determined that Kim, too, is a victim of fraud perpetrated by Lee.
Prosecutors have stated that they decided not to take Lee into custody because he has been “cooperative in all investigations” and that he has forfeited 70% of the aforementioned $100 million to the state.
