▲ Bithumb
Gongsochung (the Prosecution Service) has resumed a coercive investigation into Bithumb, a virtual asset exchange, over suspicions that former and current executives misused company housing support funds, 1 year and 7 months after the previous raid.
The Criminal Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (headed by Senior Prosecutor Kim Yong-je) has been conducting a search and seizure at Bithumb's headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, starting from this morning (October 29).
This search and seizure is an additional coercive investigation related to the suspicions of private misuse of housing support funds by former and current Bithumb executives, which were uncovered by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) last year.
It was confirmed that Gongsochung undertook this search and seizure to verify additional facts regarding some of the issues raised during the previous investigation.
Previously, in March of last year, the FSS filed a complaint with the prosecution (now Gongsochung), stating that it had uncovered allegations that Bithumb provided high-end housing worth a total of 11.6 billion KRW to four former and current executives, and that some executives privately misused the housing rental funds.
At the time, the Joint Investigation Team on Virtual Asset Crime at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office conducted a search and seizure at Bithumb's headquarters and other locations on March 20 of last year to investigate suspicions of breach of trust.
This coercive investigation follows the transitional provisions of the revised Criminal Procedure Act and the Gongsochung Act, which allow prosecutors to continue investigations under former regulations.
With the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office on the 2nd of this month, the direct investigative powers of prosecutors were also abolished; however, for existing investigative cases where the statute of limitations is imminent or continued investigation is deemed unavoidable, a grace period of up to 90 days was granted.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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