Public Prosecution Office searches Bithumb headquarters again over alleged misuse of housing support funds by current and former executives

[Financial News] Cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is again being searched and seized, 1 year and 7 months later, over allegations that current and former executives misused housing support funds.
According to legal circles on the 29th, the Major Crimes Prosecution Division 3 of the Seoul Southern District Public Prosecution Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Yong-je) has been searching the offices at Bithumb’s headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, since this morning.
The Public Prosecution Office is understood to have begun securing materials to further verify the facts surrounding some issues raised during the existing investigation.
Earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service said in March last year that it had detected suspicions that some executives had misappropriated housing lease payments for personal use while Bithumb provided four current and former executives with high-end company housing worth a total of 11.6 billion won. The Financial Supervisory Service filed a complaint in the case with the then-Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office.
On the 20th of the same month, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office’s Joint Investigation Unit for Virtual Asset Crimes searched and seized Bithumb’s headquarters and other locations. The investigation included allegations of breach of trust—that company funds had been improperly used in providing support for a former CEO’s apartment purchase.
This compulsory investigation is understood to be based on transitional provisions that allow investigations into existing cases to continue temporarily after the Public Prosecution Office was established. The Indictment Agency Act, which took effect on the 2nd, allows investigations under the previous rules for up to 90 days from its effective date only in existing cases where continued investigation is unavoidable, among other such cases.


[email protected] Seong-hyun Park Reporter