Bithumb CEO Booked in South Korea Bribery Probe Over Lawmaker’s Son Hiring

Investigators believe the lawmaker’s criticism of rival exchange Dunamu may have been tied to his son’s employment at Bithumb.

South Korean police are investigating Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won over bribery allegations linked to hiring people connected to independent lawmaker Kim Byung-ki.

According to Yonhap News, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Public Crime Investigation Unit is examining claims that Lee approved the hiring of Kim’s second son after receiving a direct employment request from the lawmaker.

The case stems from statements provided by a former aide to Kim, who had previously raised other allegations against the lawmaker. The aide told police that Kim met Lee for drinks at a restaurant in Seoul’s Mapo district in November 2024 and asked him to hire his son.

Police suspect the alleged hiring may have been linked to Kim’s activities while serving on the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee. Investigators believe Kim concentrated his legislative efforts on criticizing alleged monopoly practices involving Dunamu, the operator of rival crypto exchange Upbit, in return for his son being employed at Bithumb.

Earlier this month, police listed Lee as a bribery suspect in a second search warrant targeting Bithumb’s headquarters in Seoul’s Gangnam district and several related locations. During an earlier raid carried out in February, investigators had already named Kim as a suspect in connection with alleged preferential hiring tied to his son’s recruitment, while Bithumb was listed as a witness in the case.

Police are now reviewing materials seized during the searches and are expected to question certain individuals regarding the hiring process and whether they were aware of any job solicitation efforts.

Troubles Pile Up

Beyond the hiring controversy, Bithumb has recently been entangled in several separate legal and compliance-related disputes. In May, a South Korean court temporarily blocked a six-month partial business suspension imposed on the crypto exchange by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

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The court’s decision paused the sanctions until a final ruling is made in Bithumb’s legal challenge against the regulator. The FIU had accused the exchange of around 6.65 million violations of financial rules, including failures in customer identity checks and transaction monitoring. Regulators also fined Bithumb 36.8 billion won and warned several company officials.

Earlier in April, Bithumb took legal action to freeze 7 BTC that remained missing after a major payout mistake during a promotional event. Due to a system input error, the exchange accidentally distributed Bitcoin instead of Korean won to users. Although most of the funds were recovered quickly, some recipients allegedly refused to return the remaining assets, which forced Bithumb to pursue a provisional seizure.