Delio CEO sentenced to 15 years in prison on crypto fraud in South Korea

A judge in South Korea reportedly sentenced Delio CEO Jeong Sang-ho to 15 years in prison after he was found guilty of defrauding users out of about $50 million in crypto. 

According to a Thursday report from South Korean news outlet Newsis, the 11th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced Jeong after his conviction on charges related to embezzlement and the use of a false trading license, but the CEO received no detention for defrauding users of $175 million.

“While operating Delio, [Jeong] falsely obtained a virtual asset trading license and defrauded victims of approximately 70 billion won [$49.3 million] in virtual assets,” said the court, adding: 

“Numerous victims have suffered significant economic damage due to this case, which is difficult to recover.”

Launched in 2022, Delio marketed itself as a “digital asset bank” that offered high interest on crypto deposits. However, the exchange froze customer withdrawals in June 2023 and declared bankruptcy in November 2024, leading to Jeong’s indictment on fraud charges in April 2025.

The ruling impacting Delio was the latest example of crypto-related fraud among South Korea-based exchanges. Notably, Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon escaped authorities for almost a year following the company’s collapse in May 2022. He was arrested in Montenegro and later extradited to the US, where he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2025.

Related: South Korea drops Travel Rule threshold for crypto transfers