The trial of Kim Nam-guk, the former South Korean Democratic Party lawmaker at the center of the crypto-themed “Coin Gate” scandal, has begun in Seoul.
Per Herald Kyungjae, the trial’s first hearing was held at a branch of the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon, Seoul, on October 28.
Coin Gate Trial: Lawmaker Denies Charges
Prosecutors have accused the former Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker of “obstructing official duties.”
They say he “hid large sums” of crypto and submitted “false asset declarations.”
Kim has previously been accused of insider trading using confidential government information he learned while serving on National Assembly committees.
However, the prosecution has reportedly dropped this part of the case “due to insufficient evidence.”
Lawmaker Kim Nam-guk, the man at the heart of the ‘Coin Gate’ scandal allegations, outside a courthouse in Seoul. (Source: MBN News/YouTube/Screenshot)
Instead, it has chosen to focus on its belief that Kim deceived a political ethics committee to hide the profits of his crypto holdings.
His legal team claimed Kim was innocent of all the charges. He called the prosecution’s case “unfounded.”
The lawyers claimed that while Kim should “assume political and moral responsibility for his immature actions,” he had not broken any laws.
In the wake of the scandal, South Korea has introduced a system of crypto declarations for lawmakers and top civil servants.
This has led most crypto-holding lawmakers to sell their coins, reducing the size of their holdings to small amounts of “crypto dust.”
Kim has since left the DP. But he was due to return after the smaller political party he joined announced plans to merge with the DP.
The accused appeared in court and told the presiding judge:
“Since I first ran for office, I have done my utmost not to avoid committing even the most minor of illegal activity. I also faithfully performed my [asset] reporting duties in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Public Official Ethics Act. I had absolutely no intention to interfere with the duties of public officials.”
Lawmaker Kim Nam-guk (center), the man at the heart of the ‘Coin Gate’ scandal allegations, outside a courthouse in Seoul. (Source: MBN News/YouTube/Screenshot)
‘My Rights Have Been Violated’
He further claimed that the prosecution’s case was “illegal” and violated his legal defense rights “as guaranteed by the Constitution.”
“I was suddenly summoned by phone in August of last year. Prosecutors asked me questions about my asset declarations without any explanations. A week after the summons, I was indicted on a charge of obstructing official duties. These charges had nothing to do with the accusations made against me. Because of the surprise indictment, I was unable to exercise my most basic defense rights.”
Former South Korean DP lawmaker Kim Nam-guk
Kim also told news reporters outside the courthouse that the prosecution had “made an unreasonable indictment based on absurd logic.”
‘An Indiscriminate Attack’
And on Kim Nam-guk’s YouTube channel’s community page, the former DP lawmaker claimed:
“I was indiscriminately attacked by the media. They have been […] completely obsessed. I will quickly and decisvely prove my innocence.”
Prosecutors claim Kim “hid the fact” that he had “made a large profit from crypto investments” in 2021 and 2022 “by transferring some of the holdings from his crypto wallets to a bank account to match the total amount of his assets.”
He then allegedly “converted the remaining deposits into crypto,” in a bid to “obstruct the National Assembly Ethics Committee’s investigation” into lawmakers’ assets, prosecutors claim.
In 2023, prosecution officials launched a probe into Kim, searching and seizing data from the crypto exchanges Bithumb and Upbit.
They also raided the offices of the tech giant Kakao’s blockchain affiliate firms, to “investigate transaction details.”
‘Conflict of Interest’
The prosecution had previously hoped to charge Kim with violating the Political Funds Act, on “suspicion of his use of undisclosed information.”
Media outlets have previously claimed that Kim “traded crypto” during a National Assembly standing committee meeting as the Coin Gate scandal widened.
Kim is also accused of fostering relations with crypto industry firms and using his influence to propose bills “related to video games and cryptoassets.”
This led to further controversies over suspected “conflicts of interest.” Kim later “voluntarily” left the party before his brief return in May.
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