Altcoin News: Former CEO of Mt.Gox Mark Karpeles Sentenced to 2.5 Years in Prison
March 15, 2019, by Marko Vidrih on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE
The Tokyo District Court found the former head of the bankrupt Mt.Gox exchange, Mark Carpeles guilty on one charge and not guilty on two others, and sentenced him to imprisonment for 2.5 years.
It is reported that Mark Karpeles was found not guilty of embezzlement and violation of corporate laws. However, he was found guilty of forging documents. At the same time, the term of imprisonment was postponed for four years — if Karpeles conducts himself roughly, then he will not have to serve the conclusion. Interestingly, the court did not consider the issue of the loss of 850,000 BTC from the site, and it was this fact that led to the bankruptcy of the cryptocurrency exchange.
Recall that Mt.Gox officially submitted an application for liquidation in April 2014 after the close of trading in late February. According to Karpeles, the crypto exchange was hacked and 850,000 BTC stolen, and a wallet with 200,000 BTC was later discovered, which should be the basis for paying compensation to affected customers.
Note that the company’s bankruptcy process is still going on. In June 2018, creditors won when the court issued a resolution approving the petition for the start of civil rehabilitation.
Initially, Japanese prosecutors requested a 10-year prison sentence for the former CEO of Mt.Gox.