South Korea Seeks 20-Year Sentence for Delio CEO Over $169M Crypto Fraud

South Korean prosecutors have requested a 20-year prison sentence for the CEO of crypto deposit service Delio, calling the scale of alleged fraud against thousands of investors “massive.”

During closing arguments at the Seoul Southern District Court on Thursday, prosecutors asked the court to sentence Jeong Sang-ho under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, citing what they described as deliberate deception and false promotion that left nearly 2,800 victims without access to their funds, according to the Korean news agency Yonhap.

“The defendant’s active deceptive acts and false promotion have resulted in numerous victims, and the scale of the damage is massive,” prosecutors reportedly said, adding that Jeong was “exacerbating their suffering by evading responsibility and maintaining an uncooperative attitude.”

Delio operated a crypto deposit service that promised investors high-interest returns on coins deposited for a fixed period. On June 14, 2023, the platform abruptly suspended withdrawals, freezing customer assets worth 250 billion Korean won ($169 million). A Seoul court declared the company bankrupt in November 2024.

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Delio CEO acknowledges harm done to investors

Jeong’s legal team acknowledged the harm caused. “We are aware of the victim’s suffering and feel a deep sense of responsibility,” his attorney reportedly said, adding that Jeong would seek to compensate victims if acquitted.

Jeong was indicted in April 2025 on charges of embezzling $169 million in crypto assets from victims over roughly two years, between August 2021 and June 2023.

The first-instance verdict is scheduled for July 16.

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South Korea launches crackdown on exchanges

The news comes amid South Korea’s launch of a regulatory crackdown on crypto exchanges. Earlier this month, the country fined Coinone, the country’s third-largest exchange, and ordered a partial business suspension over Anti-Money Laundering failures.

The action marks the second such crackdown in a few months, following a $24 million fine and six-month partial suspension handed to Bithumb in March for similar Anti-Money Laundering failures. The pressure on exchanges intensified after Bithumb mistakenly sent customers 620,000 Bitcoin, worth around $42 billion at the time, instead of 620,000 Korean won.

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