Delio’s Jeong Sang-ho Handed 15-Year Sentence Over 70B Won Crypto Scandal

South Korean prosecutors initially sought 20 years, but Delio CEO Jeong Sang-ho ultimately received 15 years for the crypto fraud case. South Korea’s Seoul Southern District Court has sentenced Delio CEO Jeong Sang-ho to 15 years in prison after finding him guilty of fraud involving nearly 70 billion Korean won ($49.2 million) in customer crypto assets. The 11th Criminal Division, presided over by Judge Jang Chan, handed down the sentence on August 13. The court also ordered Sang-ho to be detained due to concerns that he could flee. 15 Years Behind Bars The prosecution had initially sought a 20-year prison term, but the court rejected some of the prosecution’s evidence after accepting arguments from Sang-ho’s side that the search and seizure of the server of outsourcing company Gabia was conducted unlawfully. According to the court, prosecutors failed to guarantee Delio’s right to participate in the search and did not provide a list of seized items, which rendered the company’s database information and related secondary evidence inadmissible. Upon sentencing, the court stated, “The defendant committed a crime of embezzling a large amount of money from numerous victims, and consider...