South Korean prosecutors have requested a 20-year jail sentence for the CEO of crypto deposit service Delio, calling the dimensions of alleged fraud towards hundreds of traders “huge.”
Throughout closing arguments on the Seoul Southern District Courtroom on Thursday, prosecutors requested the court docket to condemn Jeong Sang-ho below the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Particular Financial Crimes, citing what they described as deliberate deception and false promotion that left practically 2,800 victims with out entry to their funds, in keeping with the Korean information company Yonhap.
“The defendant’s energetic misleading acts and false promotion have resulted in quite a few victims, and the dimensions of the injury is huge,” prosecutors reportedly stated, including that Jeong was “exacerbating their struggling by evading accountability and sustaining an uncooperative angle.”
Delio operated a crypto deposit service that promised traders high-interest returns on cash deposited for a set interval. On June 14, 2023, the platform abruptly suspended withdrawals, freezing buyer property value 250 billion Korean received ($169 million). A Seoul court docket declared the corporate bankrupt in November 2024.
Associated: Dunamu, Hana Monetary take blockchain remittance system dwell with POSCO
Delio CEO acknowledges hurt completed to traders
Jeong’s authorized crew acknowledged the hurt precipitated. “We’re conscious of the sufferer’s struggling and really feel a deep sense of accountability,” his lawyer reportedly stated, including that Jeong would search to compensate victims if acquitted.
Jeong was indicted in April 2025 on fees of embezzling $169 million in crypto property from victims over roughly two years, between August 2021 and June 2023.
The primary-instance verdict is scheduled for July 16.
Associated: Kbank groups with Ripple on abroad blockchain remittance trial
South Korea launches crackdown on exchanges
The information comes amid South Korea’s launch of a regulatory crackdown on crypto exchanges. Earlier this month, the nation fined Coinone, the nation’s third-largest alternate, and ordered a partial enterprise suspension over Anti-Cash Laundering failures.
The motion marks the second such crackdown in just a few months, following a $24 million effective and six-month partial suspension handed to Bithumb in March for related Anti-Cash Laundering failures. The stress on exchanges intensified after Bithumb mistakenly despatched prospects 620,000 Bitcoin, value round $42 billion on the time, as an alternative of 620,000 Korean received.
Journal: South Korea will get wealthy from crypto… North Korea will get weapons
