Australia sues ex-director of crypto exchange Blockchain Global over alleged duty breaches

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(Reuters) -Australia’s corporate regulator said on Wednesday that it has initiated civil penalty proceedings against Liang (Allan) Guo, a former director of the failed cryptocurrency exchange firm Blockchain Global, alleging multiple breaches of duties.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s allegations in the federal court are in relation to Guo’s involvement in Blockchain Global’s operation of a cryptocurrency exchange platform, ACX Exchange, which collapsed around December 2019, when customers began being unable to withdraw funds or cryptocurrency from their accounts.

The allegations relate to Guo’s dealings with ACX Exchange customer funds, statements made about those dealings and obligations to keep proper books and records.

The regulator had started an investigation into the firm in January 2024, following a receipt of a report from the firm’s liquidators, which said that Blockchain Global owed around A$58 million ($37.3 million) to unsecured creditors as of October 2, 2023.

Guo was barred from leaving the country in February 2024, but left Australia on September 23, 2024, following the expiry of his travel restraint orders, the regulator said.

Blockchain Global had no published contact information and could not immediately be reached for comment.

The firm’s liquidator, Andrew Yeo, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

($1 = 1.5562 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)