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South Korean Supreme Court Convicts Former Coinone Executives for Accepting Bribes to Include Altcoins on Exchange
The Supreme Court of South Korea has confirmed a guilty ruling against a group of former employees from the Coinone cryptocurrency exchange who accepted bribes to include altcoins on their platform.
This ruling concludes a protracted legal battle. In September 2023, the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced the former general director of coin listings at Coinone (identified by the surname Jeon, aged 42) to four years in prison.
The same court imposed a three-year and six-month prison term on an individual surnamed Kim (32), who previously managed Coinone’s listing team.
South Korean Supreme Court Rejects Appeals
Jeon and Kim contested the District Court’s ruling in the High Court, which also deemed them guilty. According to the media outlet Newsis, they subsequently escalated their case to the Supreme Court.
Nonetheless, the Supreme Court upheld the initial ruling and the sentences for both individuals.
On July 2, the Supreme Court’s second division also confirmed fines of $1.4 million for Jeon and $585,000 for Kim.
The pair were convicted of embezzlement. The court was informed that Jeon “received a total of” approximately $1.4 million in both cryptoassets and fiat currency from “brokers” over a “two-year and eight-month period.”
Prosecutors indicated that Jeon accepted the first of these bribes in 2020 “in return for listing” at least one unnamed altcoin.
Trading volumes on the Coinone crypto exchange over the past month. (Source: CoinGecko)
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The court also learned that Kim “received [$743,000] in coins and cash over a two-year and five-month period.”
The Supreme Court additionally found the two guilty of “obstructing the exchange’s business” by “manipulating the price of cryptoassets” on the platform.
The District Court judge remarked during sentencing that “employees responsible for exchange listings must possess a strong sense of integrity and recognize the necessity to adhere to the law.”
South Korea inflation hits 11-month low as supply pressures ease https://t.co/ZU65BcNqx0 pic.twitter.com/trPy1jSNGc
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 2, 2024
Consequently, the court determined that “embezzlement and bribery-related offenses must be met with severe penalties.”
The High Court, while dismissing the appeal, noted that the defendants had “shifted responsibility to one another.”
South Korea’s inflation slowed more than expected, suggesting price pressure is cooling in line with the central bank’s expectations https://t.co/d6nRJ4pbeJ
— Bloomberg Markets (@markets) July 1, 2024
The judge observed that “considering the sum of money involved, the sentences do not appear excessively harsh or lenient.”
The Supreme Court concluded that both lower courts had committed “no errors” that could have “affected their verdicts.”
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