Bitcoin Problems

Mark Karpeles
(Tokyo, Japan)

The head of collapsed Bitcoin exchange MtGox was facing fresh embezzlement charges Wednesday, as Japanese media said some of the allegedly stolen funds were spent on prostitutes.

Tokyo police said they had arrested France-born Mark Karpeles, 30, for moving 20 million yen ($166,000) in client money to his bank account, as he faces fraud allegations over the disappearance of hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-worth of the virtual currency.

Japan’s top-selling Yomiuri newspaper reported that the defunct firm’s chief had spent an unspecified sum on prostitutes, while the Jiji Press news agency, citing police, said it involved “several women whom he met at venues that offer sexual services”.

OK