Mark Karpeles, Former CEO of Mt. Gox, Maintains Innocence in Closing Arguments

The former CEO of the now-defunct Mt Gox exchange has again told a Tokyo court that he is innocent in his closing arguments today (Dec 27th).

33-year-old Mark Karpeles maintained his innocence in the face of the charges of  embezzlement of over 340 million Yen ($3.1 million) between September and December 2013, and manipulating customer data.

According to Japanese news site NHK, the 33-year old reiterated his consistent claims that he was not guilty for any of the charges, but apologized for not doing more to protect users’ funds.

Ongoing Case

As recently reported on CryptoGlobe, prosecutors in the case have been seeking a ten-year prison sentence for Karpeles.

Although he was not directly linked to the infamous 2014 hack of 850,000 bitcoins – worth c. $450 million dollars at the time – he nonetheless remains one of the most high-profile figures connected to the exchange.

In April 2018, Karpeles posted a statement on popular crypto Subreddit – r/bitcoin – explaining his involvement in the exchange, and expressing his sorrow over the way events unfolded:

When I took over MtGox, I never imagined things would end this way and I am forever sorry for everything that’s taken place and all the effect it had on everyone involved. Hopefully, I can make what I’ve learned in this experience useful to the community as a whole, so there can at least be something positive in the end.

NHK reports that the court ruling is set to be delivered on March 15th next year.