The South Korean Supreme Court has upheld a guilty verdict for a group of former Coinone crypto exchange employees who took bribes to list altcoins on the platform.
The verdict marks the end of a long legal saga. In September 2023, the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced Coinone’s former general director of coin listings (surnamed Jeon, aged 42), to four years in prison.
The same court jailed an individual surnamed Kim (32) for three years and six months. The latter is the former manager of Coinone’s listing team.
South Korean Supreme Court Dismisses Appeals
Jeon and Kim appealed the District Court’s verdict in the High Court, which also found them guilty. Per the media outlet Newsis, they then took their case to the Supreme Court.
However, the Supreme Court upheld the original verdict, as well as both individuals’ original sentences.
On July 2, the Supreme Court’s second division also upheld fines of $1.4 million (for Jeong) and $585,000 for Kim.
The duo were found guilty of embezzlement. The court heard that Jeon “received a total of” about $1.4 million in cryptoassets and fiat from “brokers” over a “two-year and eight-month period.”
Prosecutors explained that Jeon received the first of these bribes in 2020 “in exchange for listing” at least one unnamed altcoin.
Trading volumes on the Coinone crypto exchange over the past month. (Source: CoinGecko)
Execs Received Coins and Cash to List Altcoins, Court Hears
The court also heard that Kim “received [$743,000] in coins and cash over a two-year and five-month period.”
The Supreme Court also found the duo guilty of “obstructing the exchange’s business” by “manipulating the price of cryptoassets” on the platform.
The District Court judge noted, in sentencing that “employees in charge of exchange listings must have a strict sense integrity and feel the need to comply with 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
As such, the court ruled, “embezzlement and bribery-related offenses must be punished severely.”
The High Court, in dismissing the appeal, stated that the defendants had “passed the buck 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 noted that “when considering the amount of money involved, the sentences do not seem too heavy or too light.”
The Supreme Court ruled that the two courts had made “no errors” that could have “influenced their verdicts.”
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