The CTO of Bitkub, Samret Wajanasathian appeals against the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) fine. The SEC accused Samret of insider trading, which took place in 2021.
The SEC barred Wajanasathian from his position as a CTO at Bitkub, the largest crypto exchange in Thailand and fined him over 8 million Baht.
According to the SEC, On 2 November 2021 SCB Securities Co., Ltd. agreed to acquire 51% of Bitkub's stocks. As a result, KUB coin value increased to 100 Baht (approx.) per 1 KUB.
49.53 was the price of the token prior to the official disclosure of the acquisition.
source: tradingview
The SEC received a complaint that a trader was aware of the acquisition prior to the public disclosure and used his knowledge to buy KUB.
The SEC began investigating the allegations and discovered that negotiations between SCB Securities and Bitkub began in August 2021. Between September 2021 and 2 November 2021, Bitkub's CTO allegedly began aggressively buying KUB coins.
The SEC determined that it was irregular behavior compared to trading prior to having possessed the knowledge of the upcoming acquisition.
Actions were taken against the CTO, which resulted in a hefty fine.
The SEC stated that even if the CTO does not consent to the fine, a letter will be sent to the prosecutor asking to proceed with prosecution and ask for the highest possible penalty provided by law.
Last month, the SEC fined the exchange 24 million Baht for providing an inaccurate trading volume of cryptocurrencies in 2019.
SCB Terminated the Acquisition
Following the SEC investigation into the listing process of KUB, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) terminated the acquisition, which was worth 17.8 billion Baht.
SCB X Plc, the holding company for the commercial bank, said in a statement: "Bitkub is currently in the process of resolving various issues as per the recommendations and orders of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are uncertain in terms of time frame in resolving those issues.
''As a result, the buyer and the seller have agreed to terminate the transaction."
