(Reuters) – Australia’s corporate regulator said on Tuesday that Grant Colthup, the former CEO of collapsed local cryptocurrency exchange Mine Digital, has been charged with fraud in connection to an A$2.2 million ($1.46 million) transaction in July 2022.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleged that a customer of Mine Digital paid A$2.2 million to ACCE Australia Pty, which operated the digital asset exchange platform between May 2019 and September 2022, for Bitcoin and never received any cryptocurrency in exchange.
“ASIC alleges that Colthup used the funds to pay liabilities of ACCE and/or purchase cryptocurrency for others,” it said in its statement.
Local media reports last year stated that the liquidator of ACCE Australia identified only A$20,000 in assets, significantly short of the A$16 million claims made by creditors.
The Magistrates Court at Ipswich has adjourned the matter to December 16, 2024.
($1 = 1.5026 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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