Coinnest Executives Indicted for Accepting Bribe for Coin Listing

The Seoul Southern District Public Prosecutors’ Office has reportedly indicted two executives of South Korean crypto exchange Coinnest for accepting a bribe in exchange for listing a cryptocurrency. According to local media, they received 1 billion won (~US$890,000) worth of cryptocurrencies – mostly BTC.

Coinnest Execs Indicted for Accepting Bribe

The financial investigation department of the Seoul Southern District Public Prosecutors’ Office said last week that it has indicted the CEO and COO of crypto exchange Coinnest “on charges of receiving a bribe,” Korea IT Times reported.

In addition to indicting Coinnest’s executives, “The prosecution also indicted another Kim, the CEO of S Coin, on charges of giving bribery, asking the two Coinnest executives to help with the virtual currency listing process,” the publication elaborated, adding:

The prosecution believes that the executives provided the issuer of S coin with the “unfair” convenience of listing the coin, such as listing “without precise examination of the technology of S coin and hastening the listing date of S coin,” Yonhap detailed.

Previous Charges

In April, all major crypto exchanges in South Korea jointly declared self-regulation under the guidance of the Korean Blockchain Industry Association. However, Coinnest opted out. When the association announced that 12 out of its 23 exchange members had completed self-inspection in July, Coinnest was not among them.

Coinnest, however, was one of the crypto exchanges that recently completed implementing short-term security measures, the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) and the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology announced in August.