South Korean court gives 14-year terms to masterminds of $67M crypto fraud

Eight people indicted on charges including fraud, Electronic Financial Transactions Act violations, Specified Financial Information Act violations, quasi-receipt violations and criminal proceeds concealment were given prison terms or suspended sentences by the Seoul Northern District Court on Aug. 19, Edaily reported. The two masterminds behind the scheme were each sentenced to 14 years in prison. The head of the sales organization was sentenced to eight years, while four other accomplices received prison terms ranging from four to seven years. One person involved only in the quasi-receipt scheme was given a one-year prison term suspended for two years and ordered to complete 80 hours of community service. The group compiled false white papers and business plans by patching together existing materials and documents from other companies, then recruited people to lend their names and issued and sold nearly 30 coins in succession. When listings on overseas exchanges proved difficult, the group manipulated investors' apps to show coins had been delivered even when no actual tokens were issued, and used wash trading to artificially lift exchange prices and make the coins appear to be trading normally.