Crypto Exchange CEO Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Swindling Millions From Customers: Report

South Korean authorities have reportedly convicted two top executives of the crypto exchange Bitsonic.

According to local news agency Newsis, the Seoul Eastern District Court sentenced Bitsonic CEO Jinwook Shin to seven years in prison during his first trial on charges that accused him of defrauding users of the exchange.

Shin is said to have manipulated the price of Bitsonic’s native token from January 2019 to May 2021 and set up a paper company to inflate the sales and operating profit of the platform.

The report says the exchange recruited 101 users, from whom Shin received 10 billion won, or around $7.5 million, in cash and virtual assets purportedly to be used as deposits and funds.

Bitsonic CTO Bae Mo was also sentenced to one year in prison. He was charged with helping create and run a computer program used to manipulate the price of the exchange’s token.

The court’s chief judge, Lee Jong-chae, says the 43-year-old acted under Shin’s instructions and did not seem to play a leading role in the overall crime.

Says Lee, according to the report,

“The credibility of virtual exchange assets has fallen significantly by creating a program that undermines the intrinsic function of the exchange.”

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