In a startling turnย of events, a previous executive at Coinone, one of South Koreaโs top digitalย currency exchanges, has received bribes toย beย listed specific digitalย currencies on the platform.
The accused executive, Jeon, allegedly received around 2 Billion Korean won ( approximately $1.5 million) betwixt 2020 and 2022 for facilitating the listing of digitalย currencies on Coinone that were prone to marketย value manipulation.
Prosecutors assertย that some of the cryptoย tokens involved in the scandal were linked to corporations hired to manipulate digitalย currency prices. Itโsย worthย notingย that, the local digitalย currencies in the scheme reportedly include Pica Coin and Puriever.
Jeonโs case was heard at the Seoul Southern District Court following his initial arrest on bribery charges on March 22. Althoughย while Jeon and his broker, Koh, have acknowledged the accusations, their legal representatives have refrained from formally admitting guilt until they have reviewed all the evidence.
Another previous Coinone employee, Kim, and their broker, Hwang, have likewise been implicated in the case. Nonetheless, Kim and Hwang have isย still to respond to the charges brought against them during Thursdayโs court hearing. It is alleged that Kim received $784,000 for their engagementย in the illicit activities.
The subsequent trial for the four defendants is scheduled for June 15.
A recent local pressย statement, dated May 22, 2023, outlines that 46 coins were part of this illicit scheme, accounting for approximately 25 percent of Coinoneโs portfolio of listed tokens.
The incident, which tookย place from November 2019 to December 2022, has raised concerns about the integrity of the market and the trust placed by investors and traders in digitalย currency exchanges.
With South Koreaโs digitalย currency market valued at 19 trillion Korean won ( approximately $14.3 billion) as of the end of aย yearย ago, it ranks amongย the most wholeย lotย of digitalย currency markets globally.
Asย aย result to the scandal, South Korean prosecutors are expanding their investigation to other local exchanges in their quest for additional evidence of digitalย currency listing manipulations on the broader market.
