Coinone Execs Arrested for $1.5M Crypto Exchange Fraud

• South Korean authorities have detained several staff members of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinone for breach of trust and other criminal acts.
• The arrest warrants were issued by Seoul Southern District Court Chief Judge Kim Ji-Sook, who suspected that the employees in question could escape.
• Authorities suspect that a murder was committed due to a major crypto investment on Coinone that did not go as planned.

Coinone Under The Scanner

South Korean authorities have taken several staff members of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinone for breach of trust and other criminal acts. Prosecutors in South Korea have claimed that the executives in question had received billions to list specific cryptocurrencies on their platform. As a result, authorities detained several employees of the exchange. Coinone is one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, often counted among the Big 4 crypto exchanges in South Korea.

Arrest Warrants Issued

The arrest warrants were issued by Seoul Southern District Court Chief Judge Kim Ji-Sook, who stated that the employees in question could escape and deemed it necessary to detain them. According to the authorities, the head of Coinone’s listing division, Kim Mo, broke the Concealment of Criminal Proceeds Act. He also faced allegations of breach of trust, along with another individual, Hwang Mo.

Nature Of The Fraud

As a listing broker, Hwang allegedly paid 2 billion won ($1.5 million) to Kim. These transfers were bribes in exchange for Kim listing specific cryptocurrencies on the Coinone platform. Authorities stated that the ex-director of Coinone, Mr. Jeon, also received payments to facilitate listing certain assets and circumvent listing procedures outlined for the exchange.

Murder Tied To Listing?

Investigators claimed that one of the coins listed on the exchange could also be tied to a possible murder. “Furever Coin” listed on the exchange was tied to a possible murder in a case that involved kidnapping from Gangnam District in Seoul; authorities suspect this was done as retaliation for an investment gone wrong on Coinone’s platform..

Coinone Part Of Big Four

Coinone was founded in 2014 by Kevin Cha with its users based mainly from South Korea; it soon expanded its reach till Indonesia by 2017 . Along with other exchanges such as UPbit, Bithumb and Korbit ,Coinone is part one South Korea’s infamous Big 4 crypto exchanges handling about 90 percent trading volume In South korea .South Korean regulators recently mandated stricter rules these exchanges needed abide by which some platforms like coinne fulfilled successfully