Senior executives at South Korea’s Bithumb stock exchange face accusations of fraud from former partners in Thailand.

South Korean media report that Senior executives at the Bithumb Stock Exchange face a lawsuit over allegations of fraud in Hong Kong. The lawsuit targets the executives of the Hong Kong branch, who face criminal charges, while the stock exchange branches face a civil lawsuit for breach of contract. The two targeted subsidiaries are Bithumb Global and GBEX.

Bithumb attempted to initiate exchanges in various countries through partnerships, but those plans failed. The plaintiff argues that Bithumb had no real intention of initiating an exchange in Thailand and claimed to be forging his BXA coins.

These BXA coins were not listed on Bithumb, which played a role in the failure of an exchange launch in Thailand. The Thai partner said this caused serious damage and prompted the prosecution.

As a result of this affair, the owner of Bithumb now faces trial for fraud 100 billion won. Lee Jung Hoon has been indicted for his role in the BXA coin proposal, for which he allegedly received 112 billion won as a down payment.

The lawsuit is the result of the former stock exchange partner in South Korea who initiated the action in the country. A lawyer representing the former partner has hired a Hong Kong law firm to conduct the case in the region, saying Hong Kong subsidiaries are more closely associated with the matter.

Reports also note that a separate trial of a former partner in Japan could also take place. The lawsuit in South Korea is currently pending, which has led these former partners to initiate new lawsuits.

Bithumb in hot water

This new trial is far from being Bithumb’s only worries at the moment. The exchange faces several issues from regulators in its own country, South Korea. It comes as South Korean authorities crack down on the cryptocurrency market and expect exchanges to follow a new regulatory guideline.

The fraud investigation the case began in 2020, with a police raid on offices – and the incident had a direct link with the BXA token. Around the same time, Bithumb would have been put again on sale, which was the second time after a first attempt to sell in 2018.

The exchange now has banned employees to trade cryptocurrencies using the platform, a development that followed the decision by the country’s regulator to prevent any mischief on the part of exchanges. CEO Back Young Heo said the exchange would focus on strengthening internal regulations “to improve transaction transparency and ban investments.”