{"id":125461,"date":"2025-03-20T11:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T11:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=125461"},"modified":"2025-03-20T11:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T11:16:11","slug":"south-korea-raids-bithumb-amid-ex-ceos-alleged-2m-embezzlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=125461","title":{"rendered":"South Korea raids Bithumb amid ex-CEO\u2019s alleged $2M embezzlement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsUpdate March 20, 10:50 am UTC: This article has been updated to add a Wu Blockchain report on Bithumb listings, claiming that multiple crypto projects paid intermediary fees to have their tokens listed.<br \/>\nSouth Korean prosecutors raided crypto exchange Bithumb following suspicions that its former CEO embezzled funds to purchase an apartment.\u00a0<br \/>\nOn March 20, Seoul\u2019s Southern District Prosecutors\u2019 Office reportedly searched Bithumb\u2019s offices in the country.<br \/>\nThe investigation centered around allegations that the crypto exchange gave a 3 billion Korean won (over $2 million) apartment lease deposit to Kim Dae-sik, its former CEO and board member, who now works as an adviser to the firm.\u00a0<br \/>\nProsecutors raised concerns over potential financial misconduct within the company, suspecting that Kim used some of the funds to purchase a personal apartment.<br \/>\nBithumb says its former CEO repaid the funds<br \/>\nLocal media outlet YTN reported that the country\u2019s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) had previously investigated the suspicions and handed their findings to the prosecutor\u2019s office.\u00a0<br \/>\nIn an interview with The Chosun Daily, a Bithumb representative said some of the allegations are true.<br \/>\nThe exchange said the executive took a loan from a lender immediately after the FSS investigation. After this, Bithumb said Kim repaid the funds spent on the apartment purchase in full.\u00a0<br \/>\nApart from the apartment, rumors that projects paid intermediary fees to get listed in Bithumb also circulated online. Citing anonymous sources, Wu Blockchain reported on March 20 that two projects claimed to have paid $2 million and $10 million, respectively, to get listed on Bithumb and Upbit.\u00a0<br \/>\nThe report claimed that the \u201cintermediaries\u201d were related to Upbit\u2019s shareholders and market makers. Wu Blockchain also said that some intermediary fees ranged from 3% to 5% of entire token supplies.\u00a0<br \/>\nRelated: Wemix denies cover-up amid delayed $6.2M bridge hack announcement<br \/>\nBithumb faces probe amid IPO push<br \/>\nThe investigation comes as the crypto exchange attempts another push to go public. On March 18, the Business Post reported that Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won is expediting the process of the company\u2019s long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).\u00a0<br \/>\nThe report said the company has reorganized to eliminate judicial risks on major shareholders.<br \/>\nIn 2021, Bithumb\u2019s former board of directors chairman, Lee Jeong-hoon, was indicted on alleged fraud charges. As South Korea\u2019s Supreme Court acquitted the Bithumb executive, the exchange is expected to speed up its IPO in 2025.\u00a0<br \/>\nBithumb\u2019s IPO plans date back to 2020 when local media reported that the exchange platform had been preparing for a stock market launch.<br \/>\nHowever, the company faced obstacles that prevented it from successfully conducting an IPO. In 2023, the company chose an underwriter for its IPO plans, reigniting the chatter it\u2019s working on conducting an IPO.\u00a0<br \/>\nIn 2024, the rumors were confirmed as Bithumb Korea set up a non-exchange business to accelerate its debut on the stock market. However, the news was paired with a 57% loss in annual revenue for the exchange operator in the fiscal year 2023.\u00a0<br \/>\nMagazine: Ridiculous \u2018Chinese Mint\u2019 crypto scam, Japan dives into stablecoins: Asia Express<a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/south-korean-prosecutors-raid-bithumb-former-ceo-embezzlement?utm_source=rss_feed&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"feedzy-rss-link-icon\" rel=\"noopener\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsUpdate March 20, 10:50 am UTC: This article has been updated to add a Wu Blockchain report on Bithumb listings, claiming that multiple crypto projects paid intermediary fees&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125461"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125461\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}