According to South Korean local news agency Newsis, two former employees of Coinone, one of South Korea's five largest cryptocurrency exchanges, were sentenced to prison for bribery.
Former employees of Coinone were accused of accepting bribes in exchange for listing certain cryptocurrencies on the platform for more than two years starting in 2020.
Announcing its verdict, the court sentenced the 41-year-old defendant, Coinone's former head of crypto listings, to four years in prison and ordered him to repay 1.93 billion Korean won ($1.43 million) he illegally obtained.
The other defendant was also sentenced to a fine of 883 million won (US$654,000) and 42 months in prison for the same charges.
Seoul Southern District Court judge Kim Jung-gi wrote in the ruling that the crime in question was “a scheme by multiple conspirators, including crypto exchange listing personnel, brokers, token issuers, and market-making companies, to share the profits from minting new coins and manipulating market prices.” He said it was a secret agreement.
*This is not investment advice.
