South Korean prosecutors have asked a Seoul court to hand Delio CEO Jeong Sang-ho a 20-year prison term, calling the alleged scheme “massive” and saying it left thousands of investors unable to access their money. In closing arguments at the Seoul Southern District Court, prosecutors invoked the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, accusing Jeong of intentional deception and misleading promotion that harmed nearly 2,800 people, according to Yonhap.
Prosecutors told the court that Jeong’s “active deceptive acts and false promotion” produced many victims and that the scale of the damage was enormous. They added that Jeong has worsened victims’ hardship by avoiding responsibility and failing to cooperate.
Delio operated a crypto deposit service that promised high returns for coins locked up for fixed terms. On June 14, 2023, the platform abruptly halted withdrawals and froze customer assets worth about 250 billion won (roughly $169 million). A Seoul court declared the company bankrupt in November 2024.
Jeong’s defense acknowledged investor losses and said the defendant feels deep responsibility, adding that Jeong would seek to compensate victims if found not guilty. Jeong was indicted in April 2025 on charges of embezzling roughly $169 million in crypto assets over about two years, from August 2021 to June 2023. The first-instance verdict is set for July 16.
The Delio case comes amid intensified oversight of South Korea’s cryptocurrency sector. Regulators recently fined and temporarily restricted parts of operations at Coinone for anti-money-laundering (AML) lapses. Earlier, Bithumb faced a $24 million fine and a six-month partial suspension for similar AML shortcomings. Pressure on exchanges surged after a Bithumb error that reportedly sent customers 620,000 Bitcoin instead of 620,000 won, spurring calls for tougher regulation and measures such as crypto circuit breakers.
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