Kang Jong-Hyun, who is known as Bithumb’s real owner, has been arrested by South Korean Prosecutors. The authorities have detained the person due to his supposed involvement in embezzlement. In this way, he is getting into the Seoul Southern District Court to obtain a warrant review.
Prosecutors in South Korea Detain Kang Jong-hyun for Alleged Embezzlement
The arrest of Kang was carried out on the 2nd of February 2023. Kwon Ki-man, who is the warrant in charge at the Seoul Southern District Court, released a warrant for the interrogation of Kang. He recently stated that there is a possibility that the relevant evidence could be destroyed and fleeted. The chief executive officer of an unlisted associate of the crypto exchange Bithumb, Mr. Jo is considered to have assisted Kang.
The respective person has additionally been detained by the officials. Nonetheless, Mr. Jo’s warrant was dismissed. This is so as the person has reportedly admitted the allegations levelled against him. Formerly, on January 25th, the Office of Financial Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor requested the issuance of arrest warrants targeting 3 people.
Suspects Allegedly Manipulated Stock Prices and Embezzled Funds from Bithumb Associates
Kang was also among those people and the allegations against them were related to embezzlement as well as infringement of trust. The charges were raised in line with the Capital Markets Act-based Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and deceptive illegitimate transfers. As per the prosecution, the suspected parties have been engaged in robbing the funds from Bithumb associates like Bucket Studio, Inbiogen, and Vident.
Along with this, they are suspected to have been unfairly benefited via manipulating the stock price as well as issuing convertible bonds. Mr. Kang is considered Kang Ji-Yeon’s (Bucket Studio and Inbiogen’s CEO) elder brother. He grasped a lot of attention when some rumours were circulated regarding a supposed romantic relationship with an actor called Park Min-young. In the previous month, the prosecutors called Kang 2 times for questioning.
Apart from that, Kang Ji-yeon also faced prosecution once. In 2022’s October, the prosecutors initiated a full-fledged inquiry into the stock manipulation and the funds’ embezzlement at Bithumb as well as its associate entities. This took into account the search and seizure of Bucket Studio, Inbiogen, and Vident. Vidente is known as the sole biggest Bithumb Holdings shareholder and possesses a 34.2% stake.
