The Inside Scoop On Mark Karpeles' Japanese Prison Release

Japanese news reports that Mark Karpeles, the infamous CEO of Mt Gox, was released on bail yesterday. The video from News24 Japan says Karpeles was let out after being imprisoned for a year and he was released on a $100,000 bail.

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Mark Karpeles Posts Bail and Weighs a Lot Less

Mark Karpeles was arrested last year by Japanese authorities for being involved with the Mt Gox fiasco, losing roughly 700 thousand Bitcoins. Prosecutors are accusing Karpeles of embezzling $3.4 million after his company filed for bankruptcy. Karpeles has been arrested two times so far for moving money.

In October of 2015, he was arrested in Tokyo for moving $1 million in Yen to his personal bank account. Those same reports rumored Karpeles to be running around with prostitutes during his previous release. Since then, Karpeles was held in jail for over a year, and his recent release rules say he’s not allowed to leave Japan.

Our source from Japan says since the investigation, Karpeles was waiting on going to trial. Many former Mt Gox employees were interviewed by police about the loss of millions in Bitcoin. Many believed the investigation was closed, but due to the recent interviews, the case may have been reopened.

More information from our Japanese sources says that since the government classification of Bitcoin has changed, officials might be starting the case over from scratch. Our sources also say while Karpeles spent time in jail he lost 35KG in weight and is looking quite thinner these days.

One odd thing to note is the fact that waiting a whole year for a trial is pretty rare in Japan with the country holding a 99.99% conviction rate. This might be due to the troubles associated with tracking Bitcoin as Japanese police want to be absolutely sure before convicting Karpeles.

Another rumor from our Japanese source tells us the French Embassy has been complaining about Karpeles’ long wait time for a trial, leaving French authorities wondering what is going on with the investigation.

Alongside this rumor, it has been said that Japanese police have also tried to get Karpeles to sign a statement saying that he was Satoshi Nakamoto. These specifics are unconfirmed, but it’s very common in Japan for people to be asked to sign statements such as these, with the conviction rate so high.

The video from News24 Japan shows a very skinny Mark Karpeles, who looks very different, so he may get away with being unnoticed in the region for the time being. Bitcoin.com will be monitoring the situation first hand as we have reporters and employees living in the region. We will keep our readers up to date on anything that arises from this story.

What do you think about Mark Karpeles released on bail? Let us know in the comments below.

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