Ado International Top Recruiter Sentenced to 12 Years in First Trial for 440 Billion Won Illegal Fundraising Scheme

Court: "Considering the scale of damage, the crime is egregious and the defendant bears heavy responsibility"

The top recruiter of a multi-level marketing company involved in an illegal fundraising scheme worth over 440 billion won has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in the first trial.

Seoul Central District Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

On April 29, Judge Kim Jiyeong of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25 sentenced Mr. Cho, the top recruiter for Ado International, to 12 years in prison on charges of fraud and violation of the Act on Regulation of Conducting Fund-Raising Business Without Permission.

The court stated, "There are 1,295 victims in this case, and the amount defrauded reaches 24.7 billion won," and added, "Given the scale of the damage, the nature of the crime is egregious and the defendant bears significant responsibility." The court further explained, "As the top-level operator in the multi-level marketing scheme, the defendant played a key role in explaining the investment to potential investors and significantly contributed to the expansion of this case," and "The defendant gained substantial financial benefit and shows no remorse for his actions."

However, the court also noted, "The victims are partly responsible for the occurrence and expansion of the damage, as they made reckless investments without thoroughly reviewing the business in hopes of high returns in a short period of time. The sentence was determined by also considering the defendant's cooperation with investigations into accomplices."

Mr. Cho was charged with conspiring with Mr. Lee, the CEO of Ado International, and others to participate in an illegal fundraising scheme that involved more than 140,000 transactions and amounted to approximately 446.7 billion won. He was also accused of conspiring with Mr. Lee to defraud investors of 24.7 billion won through over 6,000 transactions. Illegal fundraising refers to collecting funds from an unspecified number of people by promising returns exceeding the principal, without obtaining the required authorization, registration, or reporting as stipulated by law.

Meanwhile, Mr. Lee, the CEO of Ado International, who led the illegal fundraising scheme, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the second trial and has appealed. The case is currently under review by the Supreme Court.

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