The Seoul District Court has dropped fraud charges against Upbit executives, local news outlet Newsis has reported.
The court reportedly dismissed the 30-count criminal fraud and market manipulation charges leveled against Upbit executives due to lack of evidence. In particular, the judge has ruled the actions of the platform's managers were not sufficient to significantly influence the crypto spot market.
The South Korean crypto trading platform had been accused of trading against its own clients and creating fake accounts to place fake purchase orders in order to inflate prices. The exchange had reportedly been executing fraudulent transactions between September and December 2017, using fake corporate accounts to inflate the exchange's trading volume to 254 trillion won (around $226.2B) in order to attract new clients.
An internal audit has not detected any fraudulent activities.
Upbit is one of the largest crypto exchanges in South Korea and the first platform to receive the corresponding license to operate legally in the country.
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