Mt Gox Bitcoin exchange's Karpeles avoids jail time in Japan

Mark Karpeles, who headed Mt. Gox, a Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange that went bankrupt after a massive hacking, was found guilty Friday of manipulating electronic data but cleared of embezzlement and breach of trust charges.

The Tokyo District Court handed down a prison sentence of two years and six months, suspended for four years, meaning Karpeles will not have to serve jail time.

Karpeles, a 33-year-old Frenchman, was arrested in August 2015, and suspected of taking money from his clients. He said he was innocent, arguing he did not pocket the money that got lost at his exchange.

Prosecutors had demanded 10 years in prison.

Karpeles, appearing in court in a dark suit, quietly sat listening to the verdict.

His case drew global attention, coming at a time when cryptocurrencies were still relatively new.

So did his nearly yearlong incarceration ahead of his trial.

Japan's criminal justice system has drawn scrutiny more recently with the arrest and detention for more than three months of Nissan Motor Co.'s former chairman, Carlos Ghosn. Ghosn was released on bail last week.

Although the court ruled Karpeles had not embezzled money, it said he had manipulated data to harm his clients, betraying their trust and abusing his engineering skills.

It was not immediately clear if Karpeles would appeal. Although he was found guilty of some charges, he was acquitted of what legal experts would see as more serious wrongdoing. Acquittals are rare in Japanese courts, where the conviction rate is higher than 99 percent.

Karpeles' chief lawyer Nobuyasu Ogata has argued the authorities were confused about how cryptocurrency exchanges worked and were trying to pin the blame for an massive cybercrime on Karpeles, who was actually a victim.

In his statement to the court in 2017, Karpeles said he "never once improperly used any funds" at Mt. Gox, or dishonestly manipulated data for profit. He apologized for Mt. Gox's collapse, acknowledging that many customers had suffered, but he said his case had nothing to do with the hack or any effort to recover the stolen bitcoins.

The Mt. Gox case raised alarm over what had been a legal gray area.

The Japanese government since encouraged the use of cryptocurrencies, but set up a system requiring exchanges to be licensed to help protect consumers. The system is also meant to make Japan a global leader in the technology.

Bitcoin has been a legal form of payment in Japan since April 2017, and a handful of major retailers here already accept bitcoin payments.

The recurrence of cryptocurrency heists has dampened some of the initial enthusiasm, and no official numbers are available on estimated Japanese users. But many are thought to be dabbling in various cryptocurrencies, seeing them as an alternative for keeping their savings in banks at near-zero interest rates.

Karpeles, who is fluent in Japanese, exhibited a flair for technology and coding since a young age. He started working with bitcoin from its inception, when they were worth a fraction of their value today.

By 2014, Mt. Gox was among the biggest bitcoin exchanges in the world, dealing with what was the equivalent of millions of dollars of transactions a day. But it was plagued by hacks from the start.

Its bankruptcy proceedings have progressed to a civil rehabilitation procedure, as some users try to reclaim their money.

Bitcoin was started in 2008 by a person or a group called Satoshi Nakamoto, whose real identity is unknown. In theory, blockchain technology makes bitcoins secure. They can't be forged, making them a great way to make cashless payments over the internet, across borders, especially in places without sophisticated banking systems or stable currencies.

In practice, they've been a disaster for some investors.

In an interview with The Associated Press last year, Karpeles warned about the risks of virtual money, likening its precariousness to a game of musical chairs, with about 10,000 people around each chair.

"As long as everyone is dancing, it's fine, but if everyone wants to sit at the same time there won't be enough chairs," he said.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Foundation work on the Athletics' stadium is complete, according to the project director, and officials for the contractor and team told the Las Vegas Stadium Authority on Thursday they remain on target to open before the 2028 season.

It was a similar message in the December meeting with the Stadium Authority.

“We are excited we continue to be on schedule for the project,” said Tyler Van Eeckhaut, project director for contractors Mortenson-McCarthy.

The Stadium Authority also approved the A's request to sell personal-seat licenses, and the Athletics vice chairman Sandy Dean said the team has spent $300 million on the $2 billion, 33,000-person domed ballpark and have yet to request public financing.

While construction takes place on the Las Vegas Strip, the A's are about to play the second of three scheduled seasons at a Triple-A stadium in West Sacramento, California. They played their previous 57 seasons in Oakland, California.

“It's good to be here on a day in which we have a lot of tangible progress to report,” Dean told the Stadium Authority.

Van Eeckhaut provided a detailed update of where construction stands, noting two of the buttresses are finished and work is being done on the lower suite level and main concourse. He said all the buttress work should be completed by May and the vertical construction already in progress should continue.

“I feel great about the progress,” Badain said. “You heard Tyler’s comments in terms of where they are on the schedule, and we’ve pretty much hit every deadline. The county has been great to work with. I feel great about that.”

Dean said the A's haven't decided when they would request public financing. Nevada and Clark County have approved up to $380 million in public funds for the ballpark, and the A’s have said they will cover the remaining expenses. Dean said after the meeting that the A's have attracted some outside investors.

As for the PCLs, A's President Marc Badain told the Stadium Authority they would be for only for “a select number of seats” mostly in the high-end areas. He noted five or six other MLB teams also sells PCLs.

“We researched the market,” Badain said after the meeting. “We have a (season-ticket) deposit list of over 20,000. We reached out to people. The demand was there, so we're going to utilize that to help with the project.”

Badain emphasized to the Stadium Authority there would be a number of seats in the $20 and $30 price range, and there likely will be tickets geared toward attracting families to the ballpark.

The A’s are in spring training in Mesa, Arizona, but will play the Los Angeles Angels in two preseason games in Las Vegas on March 7-8. The club also will return to play six regular-season games at Las Vegas Ballpark — home of the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate — in June against the Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies.

Badain said tickets for the regular-season games were first offered to those who put down deposits for Las Vegas A's season tickets and sold out in 24 hours. More tickets will be put on sale later, he said.

Ceremonial groundbreaking on the stadium located on the Las Vegas Strip occurred June 23. The A’s Ballpark Experience Center in Las Vegas opened in December to give fans a chance to view the stadium in detail and take part in other immersive experiences.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Athletics pitchers Mason Barnett, left, talks with Joey Estes, center, as they join other pitchers for workouts during spring training baseball Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

FILE - A person takes a picture near construction equipment during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Athletics' baseball stadium, June 23, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)