Bithumb CEO Booked as Bribery Suspect Over Alleged Hiring Favors

Police say the probe will test whether a lawmaker’s requests for jobs were repaid with legislative pressure on a rival exchange.

Overview

Seoul police booked Bithumb chief executive Lee Jae-won as a bribery suspect on Thursday after investigators linked him to alleged hiring favors for people connected to lawmaker Kim Byung-kee.
The case rests on a former aide’s statement that Kim raised his second son’s employment at a November 2024 dinner in Mapo and local reports that the son joined Bithumb in January 2025 for roughly six months.
Investigators executed search warrants of Bithumb offices in February and again on June 8, and they named Lee as a suspect after seizing documents and communications for review.
The probe compounds Bithumb’s recent troubles, which include a ₩36.8 billion fine for anti‑money‑laundering failures, an internal Bitcoin‑crediting error that affected users, and a decision to postpone an IPO until after 2028.
Police say they will review seized material and may summon the former aide, the hired staff and other witnesses, and the investigation could widen political and regulatory scrutiny though no one has been convicted.