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Mt. Gox CEO Charged With Stealing $2.7 Million
An anonymous reader writes: After being arrested six weeks ago in Japan, Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles has now been formally charged with the theft of $2.66 million worth of clients' money. "Tokyo-based MtGox shuttered last year after admitting 850,000 coins — worth around $480 million at the time, or $387 million at current exchange rates — had disappeared from its digital vaults. The exchange, which once said it handled around 80 percent of global Bitcoin transactions, filed for bankruptcy protection soon after the cyber-money went missing, leaving a trail of angry investors calling for answers." Karpeles still denies doing anything illegal. The case is proving difficult for Japanese authorities to unravel, and they're taking it as slowly as they legally can.
Hard to have any sympathy for the situation. If you sign up for an currency that is designed to be outside of the world governments, don't come crying to the government that dumb ass idea blew up in your face.
In Japan there are at least two courts you go through, kind of like a grands jury in the States first. But if you're found guilty in the "grand jury" you're definitely going to be found guilty in the regular court.