Report: Mt Gox CEO Mark Karpeles Released On Bail

Mt Gox CEO Mark Karpeles has been released on bail 10 months after being charged with embezzlement, according to a Japanese media report.

Karpeles was charged in September amidst an investigation into the collapse of Mt Gox, the now-defunct bitcoin exchange that, at its height was the most voluminous bitcoin exchange in the world.

Mt Gox collapsed in early 2014 after it was revealed that the exchange had lost hundreds of millions of dollars in customer bitcoin.

According to local Japanese media outlet news24, Karpeles paid ¥10m (roughly $95k) prior to being released on bail. Karpeles is reportedly prohibited from leaving the country.

Karpeles was arrested twice last year in connection with the investigation into alleged embezzlement. At the time, claims surfaced in local media that police suspected Karpeles had embezzled ¥321m (roughly $3m) in Mt Gox funds.

The collapse of Mt Gox ultimately sparked an effort by regulators in Japan to more closely oversee digital currency exchange activities.

Japanese legislators recently passed a law bringing exchanges under the country's anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer rules (KYC), a move that some say could lead to uncertainty for people and companies looking to work with the technology.

CoinDesk is continuing to follow this developing story.

Image via news24