Delio's CEO got 15 years in Seoul. The charge covering 2,800 victims was thrown out because investigators never gave anyone a list of what they seized.

Delio took bitcoin and ether deposits, paid 12 to 15% a year, and called itself a crypto bank. On June 14, 2023 it froze withdrawals overnight. It was declared insolvent in November 2024.

On August 13, the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced CEO Jeong Sang-ho to 15 years and detained him on the spot over flight risk. Prosecutors had asked for 20.

Here is what actually happened in that courtroom.

The original indictment covered about 2,800 victims and 245 billion won, roughly $175 million. The court acquitted him of all of it. Investigators had seized Delio's entire database from Gabia, the outside company hosting its servers, without letting Delio take part in the search and without handing over a list of what they took. Korean law requires both. The court called the search unlawful and ruled the database and everything built on it inadmissible.

Prosecutors saw that coming and amended the indictment on July 21, adding a smaller backup charge that did not rely on the seized data: about 1,100 victims and 71.5 billion won, roughly $49 million. The court convicted him on most of it, and separately convicted him of using false documents to register as a licensed virtual asset provider.

The broader point: in crypto cases the proof almost always sits on someone else's servers. Grab it sloppily and it vanishes, no matter how real it was.

First instance. Appealable.

Sources: Newsis, Herald Business, Newspim, Asiae.

If the evidence proving someone robbed you is genuine but was collected illegally, should it still count? Korea says no (in general). Do you agree?