Prosecutors in South Korea have sought a 20-year jail term for Delio’s CEO, describing the alleged fraud as “massive” and targeting thousands of investors.
Yonhap, a Korean news agency, reports that during Thursday’s closing arguments at the Seoul Southern District Court, prosecutors urged the court to punish Jeong Sang-ho under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. They cited intentional deceit and false promotion that caused nearly 2,800 victims to lose access to their money.
Allegations of Embezzlement
According to prosecutors, the defendant’s dishonesty and misleading advertising have cost a lot of people their lives, and Jeong is making things worse for them by refusing to take responsibility and is acting uncooperatively.
On a fixed-term basis, Delio’s crypto deposit service offered investors substantial profits on their coins. Client funds of 250 billion Korean won ($169 million) were frozen when the platform unexpectedly halted withdrawals on June 14, 2023. In November 2024, the corporation was subsequently declared bankrupt by a Seoul court.
There was an admission of guilt from Jeong’s legal team. His attorney allegedly said, “We are aware of the victim’s suffering and feel a deep sense of responsibility,” and went on to say that if Jeong were to be found not guilty, he would attempt to recompense the victims.
In April 2025, Jeong faced allegations of embezzling $169 million worth of cryptocurrency from victims. The alleged theft occurred over a span of around two years, from August 2021 to June 2023. July 16 is the date set for the first-instance verdict.
The announcement is made in the midst of a regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea. The country’s third-largest exchange, Coinone, was penalized and partially suspended from doing business earlier this month due to failings in anti-money laundering measures.