In a surprising development, a former top executive at Coinone, a popular cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, has been found guilty of accepting bribes in exchange for adding certain cryptocurrencies to the platform.
The executive under scrutiny, Jeon, is accused of reportedly receiving about 2 billion Korean won (equivalent to approximately $1.5 million) from 2020 to 2022. It is alleged that Jeon accepted these funds to help list cryptocurrencies on Coinone that were susceptible to being manipulated in terms of their market prices.
According to prosecutors, some of the tokens involved in the scandal were connected to companies hired specifically to manipulate cryptocurrency prices. Notably, the local cryptocurrencies implicated in this scheme are reportedly Pica Coin and Puriever.
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Jeon’s case was presented at the Seoul Southern District Court after his initial arrest on March 22 for bribery charges. Although Jeon and his broker, Koh, have acknowledged the accusations, their legal representatives have decided not to formally accept guilt until they have carefully examined all the evidence in the case.
Another former employee of Coinone, Kim, and their broker, Hwang, have also been implicated in the case. However, during Thursday’s court hearing, Kim and Hwang have not yet responded to the charges brought against them. It is alleged that Kim received $784,000 for their participation in the unlawful activities.
The trial for the four defendants is set to take place on June 15 as the next legal proceeding in the case.
According to a recent news release dated May 22, 2023, it has been disclosed that 46 coins were involved in the illegal scheme, making up roughly 25% of the total tokens listed on Coinone’s platform.
The incident occurred between November 2019 and December 2022, and it has sparked worries about the reliability of the market and the confidence of investors and traders in cryptocurrency exchanges.
South Korea’s cryptocurrency market, worth around 19 trillion Korean won (equivalent to approximately $14.3 billion) by the end of last year, is considered one of the largest cryptocurrency markets worldwide.
Following the scandal, South Korean prosecutors are widening their investigation to include other domestic exchanges as they search for more evidence of cryptocurrency listing manipulations within the broader market.
Important: This article is intended solely for informational purposes. It should not be considered or relied upon as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other form of advice.
