South Korea Jails Delio CEO for 15 Years in $50 Million Crypto Fraud

Delio was a South Korean centralized-finance, or CeFi, lender that took bitcoin and ether deposits while promising high yields. The platform abruptly froze withdrawals on June 14, 2023, leaving customers unable to recover assets, and was declared bankrupt in November 2024. Prosecutors said CEO Jeong Sang-ho concealed mounting operating losses, investment failures and hacking damage while promoting Delio as a legitimate, stable crypto bank. The case has become a key test of South Korea’s effort to hold licensed digital-asset operators accountable for customer losses.

The Seoul Southern District Court’s Criminal Division 11 sentenced Jeong to 15 years in prison on Aug. 13, 2026, finding that he defrauded more than 1,100 customers of about 70 billion won ($50 million) and used false materials to obtain Delio’s virtual-asset registration. Prosecutors had sought 20 years on allegations involving about 2,800 victims and 250 billion won ($169 million). The court excluded much of the seized server evidence because investigators failed to protect Delio’s participation rights or provide an inventory; Jeong’s lawyers are expected to appeal.

BiXiang Technology, once Taiwan's largest physical cryptocurrency dealer, exploited the decentralized and rapid nature of virtual-asset transactions to launder funds in collusion with fraud rings. The case involved NT$2.3 billion in laundered funds, severely damaging Taiwan's financial order and confidence in its virtual-asset market. It also prompted widespread concern over regulatory gaps affecting brick-and-mortar cryptocurrency dealers.

The Shilin District Court in Taiwan handed down its first-instance ruling in the case on July 17, 2026. Mastermind Shih Chi-jen was sentenced to 22 years in prison for offenses including violations of the Organized Crime Prevention Act. The court also ordered the confiscation of more than NT$43.71 million in criminal proceeds, along with seized cryptocurrency and cash, making it one of Taiwan's heaviest sentences in a cryptocurrency money-laundering case in recent years.

The case stemmed from a social-engineering crime ring operating across several US states and overseas. From late 2023 to early 2025, its members divided tasks including database hacking, fraudulent phone calls and money laundering to steal more than $250 million in cryptocurrency. When hardware wallets could not be breached remotely, members resorted to physical break-ins, underscoring how digital-asset security also involves risks to personal safety and homes.

The US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said 20-year-old Marlon Ferro was sentenced in federal court on May 6, 2026, to 78 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution. In February 2024, he stole a hardware wallet in Texas containing about 100 Bitcoin, then worth more than $5 million. He pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy on October 17, 2025.

A man identified as “A” defrauded three victims of 120 million won through a purported cryptocurrency investment and fled to Cambodia in June 2019. His family later obtained a legal declaration of disappearance, causing him to be treated as dead under South Korean law. The case shows how canceling a person’s legal identity can hinder asset recovery. It also comes amid a series of failures by the National Tax Service, prosecutors and police to manage seized assets, prompting South Korea’s Board of Audit and Inspection to launch a nationwide audit of digital assets.

After six years and six months on the run, A was deported from Cambodia in January 2026 and immediately arrested and detained by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. The court revoked the declaration of disappearance on January 21, and prosecutors completed the required notification to the local government on February 27. Prosecutors said on March 4 that they had coordinated with an exchange to sell cryptocurrency originally purchased for 25 million won and now worth about 93 million won, recovering most of the victims’ 120 million won in losses.