The CEO of Bitsonic, a cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, named Jinwook Shin, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for taking part in an illegal scheme worth 10 billion won (approximately $7.5 million).
This information was reported by local media. According to the case details, from January 2019 until May 2021, Shin artificially inflated the trading volumes and price of the exchange’s native token, Bitsonic Coin, in order to conceal the increasing losses.
He accomplished this by using a method called “buyback,” which involved transferring the coin between his own wallets. Additionally, he created fake points in Korean won to simulate cash flowing into the platform. To carry out the fraudulent transactions, a special software was created and controlled by the vice president of Bitsonic, surnamed Bae. H
e was also found guilty of participating in the scheme and was sentenced to one year in prison. In total, Shin and Bae defrauded 101 investors and kept the ill-gotten gains for themselves.
