Arrested? Co-Founder of South Korean Cryptocurrency Exchange Coinnest Detained by Authorities!

South Korean prosecutors have reportedly taken into custody Kim Yik-hwan, a co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinnest on suspicion of embezzlement and fraud.

A formal arrest warrant is expected soon, according to sources in Seoul.

This is the first time in South Korea that a top executive of a cryptocurrency exchange is accused of malfeasance by government authorities.

Investigators believe that funds belonging to crypto-trading customers were transferred into the accounts of exchange employees.

This comes twenty days after a three-day search that authorities conducted at three cryptocurrency exchanges in Yeoido, one of which was Coinnest. Accounting-related data were among the trove obtained in the search and subsequently examined for irregularities.

Coinnest is known for high volumes of trading in TRON, followed by Bitcoin, Ethereum, Pyndi X and Waltonchain. Daily trading is in the area of a paltry 5.5 million US dollars.