AFP, Tokyo :
The former CEO of collapsed Bitcoin exchange MtGox heads to trial in Tokyo next week on charges stemming from the disappearance of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the virtual currency from its digital vaults.
Frenchman Mark Karpeles-once the high-flying head of the world’s busiest Bitcoin trading platform, who reportedly lived in an $11,000-a-month penthouse and spent money lavishly, including on prostitutes is facing embezzlement and data manipulation charges.
“He is keeping calm as the trial gets underway,” his lawyer Kiichi Iino told AFP, adding that Karpeles plans to plead his innocence.
The 32-year-old was first arrested in August 2015 and released on bail nearly a year later over allegations he fraudulently manipulated data and pocketed millions worth of Bitcoins.
MtGox, which claimed it once hosted around 80 percent of global Bitcoin trading, shuttered in 2014 after admitting that 850,000 coins-worth around $480 million at the time-had disappeared from its vaults.
The former CEO of collapsed Bitcoin exchange MtGox heads to trial in Tokyo next week on charges stemming from the disappearance of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the virtual currency from its digital vaults.
Frenchman Mark Karpeles-once the high-flying head of the world’s busiest Bitcoin trading platform, who reportedly lived in an $11,000-a-month penthouse and spent money lavishly, including on prostitutes is facing embezzlement and data manipulation charges.
“He is keeping calm as the trial gets underway,” his lawyer Kiichi Iino told AFP, adding that Karpeles plans to plead his innocence.
The 32-year-old was first arrested in August 2015 and released on bail nearly a year later over allegations he fraudulently manipulated data and pocketed millions worth of Bitcoins.
MtGox, which claimed it once hosted around 80 percent of global Bitcoin trading, shuttered in 2014 after admitting that 850,000 coins-worth around $480 million at the time-had disappeared from its vaults.
