South Korean High Court Sentences Crypto Scammer to 9 Years in Jail
A branch of the South Korean High Court has jailed a convicted crypto scammer who operated a bogus token trading platform for nine and a half years.
Per Seoul Kyungjae, the case was heard at the Busan High Court (Ulsan Tribunal) on November 12.
The scammer, unnamed for legal reasons, was originally sentenced to serve eight years by an Ulsan-based district court.
But the High Court upheld the scammer’s guilty verdict – and increased the jail term after hearing additional evidence from prosecutors.
The court heard that the individual, named as A in the national media, told victims that they could use “crypto market manipulation” methods to make “x50 profits” on their initial stakes.
The court heard that the bogus crypto exchange was operational from March to August 2019.
Prosecutors said that A had “advertised” the platform on social media channels.
The scammer raised almost $1 million from “about 90 victims,” the court heard.
A claimed that the platform made use of a sophisticated piece of software “developed in-house” that manipulated crypto prices.
A also tried to promote a cryptoasset that they claimed could be used to pay at “convenience stores, department stores, and gas stations.”
But the court heard that A was in debt to the tune of about $0.5 million when making these claims, and was on probation while operating the scheme.
Prosecutors explained that A had faced financial fraud charges in the past.
They said that investors in A’s foreign exchange trading company had previously lodged civil fraud cases.
The court also heard evidence about A “siphoning off” over $1 million from their former employer’s bank to “repay debts and pay personal living expenses.”
Prosecutors presented evidence about another case whereby A had faced a
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