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Former Mt. Gox CEO arrested on claims of stolen bitcoins

Former Mt. Gox CEO arrested on claims of stolen bitcoins

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Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, is getting a good look at the inside of a Japanese jail cell. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police confirmed in a statement that detained Karpelès early on Saturday morning at his apartment. The police suspect that he illegally manipulated Mt. Gox's systems to funnel some $1 million into his personal accounts. Under Japanese law, Karpelès can be held without formal charges for up to 23 days. There's no possibility of bail, either.

The arrest is of little consequence for Mt. Gox's former clients, who woke up one day to find that their Bitcoins had disappeared. The company — which was the largest Bitcoin exchange at the time — filed bankruptcy in February 2014 after claiming that roughly $450 million worth of the virtual currency had vanished from its servers. The company later "found" $100 million, but the rest appears to be gone, either stolen or lost forever. Mt. Gox is currently in the midsts of liquidation proceedings.

Karpelès attorney has yet to release an official statement, but the former chief himself told The Wall Street Journal the police's allegations were "false," adding that he would "of course deny" them.