50-year-old man sentenced to 5 years in prison for attacking CEO in '1.4 trillion won coin fraud'

Uk Jin

Summary

Haru Invest was noted for a virtual asset fraud case worth 1.4 trillion won, which caused significant damage to investors due to the suspension of withdrawals.
A 50-year-old man affected by the incident attacked the CEO of the virtual asset company out of dissatisfaction and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Investors, attracted by the high annual interest rate, deposited Bitcoin and other assets, but it ultimately led to legal proceedings and corporate rehabilitation processes.

A man in his 50s who attacked the CEO of a virtual asset (cryptocurrency) company with a weapon during a trial for allegedly embezzling virtual assets worth over 1 trillion won has been sentenced to five years in prison in the first trial.

According to the industry, the Seoul Southern District Court's Criminal Agreement Division 12 (Chief Judge Kim Jeong-gon) sentenced a man in his 50s, Mr. A, to five years in prison on the 4th for attempted murder.

Previously, Mr. A was accused of attacking Mr. Lee, the CEO of Haru Invest, with a weapon during the 8th trial held by the Seoul Southern District Court's Criminal Agreement Division 15 (Chief Judge Yang Hwan-seung) in August last year.

Mr. Lee was reported to have been transferred to the hospital with bleeding on the right side of his neck but was not in a life-threatening condition.

In a previous police investigation, Mr. A reportedly stated that he committed the crime out of dissatisfaction with the damage caused by the suspension of withdrawals.

The court explained the reason for sentencing, saying, "The defendant suffered significant financial loss by investing in the business operated by the victim and experienced mental anguish, which seems to be the main motive for the crime, which is favorable to the defendant."

However, "Considering that private sanctions cannot be allowed under any circumstances in the legal order and that a criminal trial against the victim was already underway, the defendant's actions are very serious," the court ruled.

Previously, the prosecution had sought a 10-year prison sentence for Mr. A.

Haru Invest received and held approximately 1.4 trillion won from 16,000 customers from March 2020 to June 2023, and suspended withdrawals without notice on June 13, 2023. At that time, Haru Invest advertised to investors that they would provide an annual interest rate of up to 16% if they deposited virtual assets such as Bitcoin (BTC).

Victims who entrusted their coins filed a complaint against the management of Haru Invest for fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and applied for corporate rehabilitation (court management) to the court.

The court dismissed the rehabilitation application in April last year, seeing no possibility of business continuation, and Haru Invest went bankrupt in November of the same year.