Greed and Deceit Land South Korean in Prison After $2M Crypto Scam
- The 2nd Criminal Division of the Changwon District Court in Gyeongnam Province sentenced a man to 3 years in prison for fraud.
- The crypto scam involved embezzling approximately 2.93 billion won (around $2.04 million).
- Court cited the use of a round-robin scheme and noted that only partial restitution was made, justifying the custodial sentence.
The war on crypto investors continues as few individuals were recently caught in a crypto scam web. A man in his 30s from South Korea has been convicted for 3 years by the 2nd Criminal Division of the Changwon District Court in Gyeongnam Province for defrauding a cryptocurrency investor out of 2.93 billion won, roughly equivalent to $2.04 million.
Convicted Fraudster Lures Crypto Victim With Promising High Returns
According to the latest report shared by Kookje, the 30-year-old South Korean referred to as Mr. A was brought to trial by the victim referred to as Mr. B on the allegations of fraud. Mr. A and Mr. B are said to have met in an open chatroom, where Mr. A pretended to be a wealthy investor. He lured the victim by promising an annual return of 3050% along with the repayment of the principal.
During the court hearing, Mr. A is said to have collected 2.93 billion won, numbering up to 324 transactions dating back to December 21, 2021. Additional transfers of 5 million won from Mr. B were recorded between December and August 19, 2023.
However, in reality, Mr. A did not possess any assets or employment and was already suffering a loss worth millions of won from his previous crypto investments.
Mr. A was found to have built trust with Mr. B by repaying part of the funds he had received under the guise of interest, thereby encouraging a broader fraudulent scheme.
The ruling judge who presided over the case, Judge Kim Seong-hwan, noted that although the defendant returned a portion of the stolen amount, this did not make up for the full restitution due to the deceptive round-robin structure of the fraud.
The court also considered that the actual financial gain was remarkably lower than the total nominal amount listed in the indictment when determining the sentence.
Read more: https://www.tronweekly.com/greed-and-deceit-land-south-korean-in-crypto/
Text source: TronWeekly
