30s Sentenced to Prison for Scamming 19 Acquaintances with Employee Stock Ownership Plan Bait After Failing Coin Investment

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A man in his 30s who committed investment fraud against acquaintances after accumulating debt due to failures in virtual asset investments was sentenced to prison in the first trial.

According to the court on the 31st, Chief Judge Choi Changhoon of Criminal Division 8 at the Seoul Central District Court recently sentenced A (31, male), who was indicted on charges of fraud, to two years in prison.

Earlier, A is accused of deceiving 19 acquaintances, including coworkers and university classmates, from April to August last year by claiming "I will purchase company stocks on your behalf" after buying employee stock ownership of company B where he was employed, and embezzling a total of about 530 million KRW under the pretext of purchase funds.

He was investigated for deceiving acquaintances by saying things like "If you send the purchase money, I can buy it on my name, and since I am a former employee, I can sell it immediately," "You can buy B company stocks at 4,930 KRW per share, while the public offering price is 13,500 KRW," and "The listing is imminent, so you can make a large profit upon listing."

According to the prosecution, A initially had debts of about 110 million KRW, including 40 million KRW borrowed from a coworker, due to failures in virtual asset investments, and had engaged in high-risk virtual asset margin trading, which only increased his losses.

Ultimately, A planned to use the money received from acquaintances involved in this case for further virtual asset margin trading investments, and the prosecution judged that he had no intention or ability to purchase B company stocks or pay the profits from them.

One victim appeared in court and pleaded for A’s punishment, saying, "There are several friends who suffered more damage than expected, and the amount of damage is large, so I think he should receive a just punishment."

Chief Judge Choi sentenced A to imprisonment, stating, "A significant portion of the damage has not been recovered," and "Most victims are pleading for the defendant’s punishment." However, consideration was given to the fact that A is repaying part of the damages with his salary income.

A has appealed the first trial verdict.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.