South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) has opened a special investigation into the operators of the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, Yonhap reports.
The agency is examining possible violations of tax law by Bithumb Korea, Bithumb Holdings and other affiliated entities. For this purpose, the NTS is scrutinising their domestic and international transactions. Agency officials conducted raids at the firms’ offices.
Journalists noted that the investigation is being led by the NTS bureau that does not handle routine inspections.
This is not the first time the exchange has faced tax authorities’ claims. Following a previous NTS investigation in late 2019, Bithumb Korea was asked to pay more than 80 billion won (~$69 million) in income tax on profits earned from investments by foreign users of the platform.
In September 2020, the police conducted a series of raids at offices of companies affiliated with the exchange as part of a case of alleged token sale fraud worth $25 million. At the same time, law enforcement summoned for questioning the exchange’s CEO and chairman Lee Jong-hoon.
In October 2022, it emerged that, on charges of deceiving investors, he could face up to eight years in prison. According to Yonhap, Huna is considered the real owner of the exchange, and the NTS’s special investigation is allegedly related to his criminal case.
As reported in July, FTX was in talks to buy Bithumb.
The platform was first put up for sale in 2018. Since then, potential buyers have included Huobi, Nexon Group, Naver, Morgan Stanley and others.
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