Media reports a lawsuit against Bithumb following the closure of its Thailand subsidiary

An unnamed company in Thailand is preparing to file a lawsuit against Bithumb’s Hong Kong subsidiaries. The Korea Times reports this.

According to the publication, the suit was brought by a former partner of the platform. He accused Bithumb Global Holdings and GBEX of unilateral termination of the contract and causing substantial losses.

The plaintiff claims that Hong Kong-based legal entities allegedly participated in the Bitcoin exchange’s plans to open a Bithumb subsidiary in Thailand. In the summer of 2018, it became known that the company was in talks with the local Securities and Exchange Commission and the Japan Financial Services Agency.

According to the former partner, the exchange ‘did not have a real intention to create a trading venue in Thailand’. He suggested that the company sought to sell native tokens BXA, overstating the scale of its global presence.

The branch became unnecessary to Bithumb after the failure with the coin, the plaintiff believes.

“The company unilaterally ceased its business in Thailand, causing us serious damage,” he said in a comment to the publication.

According to him, Bithumb Global Holdings and GBEX jointly own 49% of the shares in the Thai venture. The partner filed suit against the companies, because ‘they are more tied to problems in Thailand than other Bithumb subsidiaries’.

The publication reported that the plaintiff does not rule out a separate court filing on behalf of the former partner of the exchange in Japan.

In September 2020, Seoul police conducted several searches at Bithumb offices and seized part of the shares of Bithumb Holdings owned by Bithumb Korea director Kim Ben Genu.

Later, the exchange’s chairman Lee Jung-hoon was summoned for questioning in the case of fraud involving the BXA token. According to investigators, he raised about 30 billion won at a presale, but did not list the token.

In April 2021, his case was forwarded to the prosecution in South Korea. According to some reports, authorities decided not to press charges against Lee Jung-hoon related to overseas property and an attempt to flee abroad.

Follow ForkLog News on Telegram: ForkLog Feed — full news stream, ForkLog — the most important news, infographics and opinions.