Thailand SEC files criminal complaint against Bitkub over false disclosures tied to 2021 hack

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has taken its most aggressive step yet against the country’s dominant crypto exchange. The regulator filed a criminal complaint against Bitkub Online Co., Ltd. and two of its former directors, naming Sakolkorn Sakavee and Thaweesap Rawan as personally liable for what authorities describe as a deliberate pattern of false reporting. The case traces back to a cyberattack in May 2021 that resulted in the theft of 16 types of digital assets valued at roughly 1.7 billion baht, or about $50 million. Bitkub eventually replaced the stolen assets by October 31, 2021. The problem, according to the SEC, is everything that happened in between. What the SEC says Bitkub actually did wrong From May 10 to October 30, 2021, Bitkub submitted daily net liquid capital reports to regulators. The SEC alleges those filings did not accurately reflect the losses from the breach. In plain terms: the exchange was allegedly telling regulators its balance sheet looked fine while sitting on a $50 million hole. That conduct is alleged to violate Section 76 of Thailand’s Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses, the foundational legal framework governing licensed c...