Key Takeaways:
- The National Tax Service is looking into potential tax avoidance by Bithumb Korea, Bithumb Holdings, and affiliates in domestic and international operations.
- The Seoul Regional Tax Service’s 4th Bureau of Investigation, a division of NTS, is in charge of the probe.
According to the Korean news source Yonhap News, the National Tax Service (NTS) of Korea launched a “special tax inquiry” into the operations of Bithumb Holdings and its affiliated businesses.
Reportedly on January 10, NTS officials were sent to the corporate offices of both corporations in Seoul’s Gangnam neighborhood.
The tax authorities are inquiring into potential tax avoidance by investigating domestic and international transactions conducted by Bithumb Korea, Bithumb Holdings, and its subsidiaries.
The Seoul Regional Tax Service’s 4th Bureau of Inquiry, which specializes in “special tax investigations” rather than traditional ones, conducted the investigation.
Additionally, it is alleged that the investigation would look into any possible tax violation cases involving Mr. Kang Ji-yeon, the businessman who is believed to be the rightful owner of Bithumb and a significant player in the fraud case involving connected companies, and Mr. Kang Jong-hyeon.
Kang sparked public interest after a mainstream news expose revealed his secret relationship with Park Min-young, one of South Korea’s most famous actresses.
Kang’s sister is the CEO of two companies, Inbiogen and Bucket Studio. Both companies are thought to be acquired by Kang and have been labelled as “Bithumb affiliated companies.“
Bithumb has been the subject of several investigations before.
When organising the purchase of Bithumb from Kim Byung-Gun, it was claimed in October 2018 that Jung-Hoon, the former chairman, had broken the law and breached the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. However, he was recently discovered not guilty.
Due to the fact that a sizable number of investors hold interests in the company, the ownership structure of the cryptocurrency exchange is thought to be very difficult and complicated. Several publicly traded businesses with no other ties to the blockchain or cryptocurrency industries are among them.
At the end of the previous year, the Vice President of one of these companies was discovered dead in front of his house.
