Mt. Gox CEO, Mark Karpeles was found ‘not guilty’ of the fund embezzlement charges imposed on him. However, he was found guilty of submitting falsified records to the Japanese District Court.

The Tokyo District Court has passed a 2-year 6-month sentence suspended for 4 years. Hence, Karpeles has been laid off with a warning and a probation period of four years. If he repeats his felony or is found guilty in the future again he would have to serve 2.5 years in prison after the judge’s discretion.

Karpeles’ chief lawyer Nobuyasu Ogata has had to clear the doubts around cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin in order to make Karpeles’ stand. He argued that Karpeles was actually ‘the victim’ of the Mt. Gox heist in February 2014.

The Japanese District Court has acquitted Karpeles of ‘more serious crimes’ that he was allegedly accused of: Fund Embezzlement and Fraud. It was noted that Karpeles was humble and listened to the verdict humbly.

Acquittals are rare in Japanese courts, where the conviction rate is higher than 99 percent. Karpeles also noted that, he was interrogated for months without a lawyer and bullied into signing a confession, a “nightmare” process during which he lost 77 pounds over 11 months.

Karpeles swore that he never utilized any customer fund and Mt. Gox was a security breach, for which he is deeply apologetic.

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Mt. Gox CEO Acquitted of All Charges But One, Will Not Serve Jail Time

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Mt. Gox CEO, Mark Karpeles was found 'not guilty' of the fund embezzlement charges imposed on him. However, he was found guilty of submitting falsified records to the Japanese District Court.

Nivesh Rustgi