South Korea sentences Delio CEO to 15 years over crypto deposit fraud

A South Korean court has sentenced Delio’s chief executive Jeong Sang-ho to 15 years in prison for virtual-asset deposit fraud.

The sentencing comes roughly three years and two months after Delio abruptly froze customer withdrawals in June 2023.

How was the operator of Delio punished? 

The 11th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court, with Presiding Judge Jang Chan on the bench, has sentenced Delio’s chief executive, Jeong Sang-ho, to 15 years in prison, even though prosecutors originally sought 20 years.

Delio took in Bitcoin and Ethereum deposits and paid interest, advertising guaranteed annual returns of around 10% and branding itself a “crypto bank.” The court found that the marketing was dishonest about the product’s safety. 

Delio assured its depositors that it earned money through arbitrage and coin-collateralized lending while hiding early business deficits and operating losses. 

The court also found Jeong submitted falsified loan records worth 2 billion won to siphon roughly 1 billion won from an investment fund, and that he inflated the firm’s coin holdings by 47.6 billion won in an audit report used to complete its virtual-asset business registration.

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