Bithumb’s founder and former chairman, Lee Jung Hoon, has been charged with fraud, and the South Korean prosecutors want to lock him up in jail for eight years. His case is related to the allegations that he defrauded BK Group’s chairman, Kim Byung Gun, of $70 million.

It was reported that Lee and Kim signed a deal where the latter bought Bithumb Holdings shares. The Bithumb owner was said to have received a contract fee worth $70 million with several conditions attached, as per the report.

One of the terms in the contract stated a BXA token listing on the Bithumb crypto exchange platform. In addition, the proceeds from the sale of the token will be used for the BK Group’s acquisition.

However, there was never a listing, and in short, it did not happen. The BXA is said to be a type of digital currency that was developed by Alliance Blockchain Exchange crypto company that was founded by Kim Byung Gun in 2018. For Lee Jung Hoon’s offense, the prosecutors are seeking an 8-year jail term, and the final verdict has been scheduled to be issued on Dec. 20.

"The structure of this case is a typical stock sale contract," the Bithumb Holdings founder’s lawyer told the court in defense of his client. Lee also spoke up and said, "I am very sorry for making it difficult for employees and causing social pressure."

In any case, CoinSpeaker reported that the FTX crypto exchange company is reportedly in talks of acquiring Bithumb. But then, observers said that Lee’s fraud case may possibly become a big obstruction on the sale. This report of acquisition has yet to be confirmed by the companies.

Meanwhile, before Lee was charged and got involved in a legal issue, major companies expressed their intention to buy Bithumb. Some of these bidders were said to include JP Morgan Chase financial company, Naver, Nexon, and even Deutsche Bank. However, the transactions failed to proceed so it is not clear if the sale talks will open again soon.

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