The former chairman of Bithumb Holdings, the parent company of crypto exchange Bithumb Korea, was acquitted of charges that he committed $100 million in fraud on the grounds that the alleged crime couldn't be proven, CoinDesk Korea reported Tuesday.

Lee Jung-Hoon was indicted in July 2021. Last October, South Korean prosecutors asked a court to sentence him to eight years in prison. Lee was accused of stealing the money from cosmetic surgeon Kim Byung-Gun during negotiations for an acquisition deal.

In 2018, Lee proposed that Kim, who was chairman of BK Medical Group, take over Bithumb under a joint management arrangement. Lee was accused of embezzling the acquisition deposit in the name of listing "BXA token," according to the report.

The court judged that Kim's claims against Lee weren't credible.

If prosecutors are dissatisfied with the judgment of the court, they can appeal the judgement within a week, the report said.

South Korea Bithumb Fraud Crypto Exchange Lawsuit

Sandali Handagama

Sandali Handagama is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for policy and regulations, EMEA. She is an alumna of Columbia University's graduate school of journalism and has contributed to a variety of publications including The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Nation and Popular Science. Sandali doesn't own any crypto and she tweets as @iamsandali