Korean authorities raid Bithumb crypto exchange again

South Korean police have reportedly raided Bithumb cryptocurrency exchange offices again in an additional seizure search according to The Seoul Newspaper. Much like the first raid that took place on 2 September, this second raid was also connected to seizing evidence for fraud allegation. However, this time the raid was conducted at the Bithumb Holdings head office (which runs the crypto exchange), in Gangnam-gu district in South Korea on 7 September. 

A police official from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit which was responsible for the raid told The Seoul Newspaper that the search operations were done to secure additional evidence related to the crypto exchange’s fraud allegations raised earlier. In fact, Korean police are also investigating Bithumb’s owner Lee Jung-hoon, chairman of the Board of Directors of Bithumb Holdings and Bithumb Korea, on charges of fraud and on grounds of other economic crimes.

The fraud allegations mentioned in the report was again linked to the $25 million token sale hosted on Bithumb during which some investors have claimed to have lost millions in a supposed acquisition by the Singapore-based platform BTHMB. 

Bithumb, one of the largest exchanges in South Korea by trading volume, has not released an official statement about the second raid yet. Whether the police were able to seize any evidence connected to the fraud allegations during the second raid remains unclear in the report.