South Korea's highest court upheld the previous jail terms and penalty fee verdict against Ex-Coinone executives. Hence, aside from paying imposed fines, the convicted former executives, Jeon and Kim, will continue their prison terms. Notably, the Supreme Court verdict follows earlier rulings by lower courts, where Jeon and Kim hoped to appeal an initial court verdict.
Previous Verdict By District Court
Jeon and Kim exclusively held top positions in the exchange as former General directors and managers of the coin listing, respectively. They were both arraigned before the court for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for listing altcoins.
In the court, Kim denied knowledge of Jeon's price manipulation escapades. In response, the presiding judge countered Kim's claims, stating that his arguments lacked the basis to reverse previous rulings. Meanwhile, the prosecuting lawyers displayed reports confirming that Jeon and Kim received the fiat and crypto asset bribe with full consent.
Hence, the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced Jeon and Kim to a four year and a 3.5-year jail term, respectively. In addition, a $1.4 million penalty fee was imposed on Jeon, while Kim received a lower fine at $585,000 .
For context, the prosecuting party revealed that Jeon began accepting bribes in 2020 totaling up to $1.4 million. On the other hand, Kim's accumulated illegal funds summed up to $743,000 within two years and five months.
The Supreme Court Verdict
Expectedly, the implicated executives filed an appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the local district and high court rulings. However, the appeal met a dead end as they have remained guilty as charged. The Supreme Court also found Jeon and Kim guilty of obstructing Coinone trading activities by manipulating prices. Additionally, the Supreme Court concluded by stating that previous rulings contained no errors. Hence, there are no convincing grounds to overturn initial court verdicts.