The Seoul Southern District Court has requested a 15-year prison sentence for Bang, a major shareholder of B&S Holdings, who has been indicted for triggering the suspension of deposits and withdrawals at Haru Invest and Delio. The court stated that Bang’s actions caused significant economic damage. In his final statement, Bang claimed that he had no personal intention of embezzlement and expressed his commitment to fairly distribute assets to the victims.
The case involves Bang’s arrest on charges of embezzling approximately 60 billion KRW worth of virtual assets from Haru Invest and Traum InfoTech. It was found that Traum InfoTech entrusted about 24.2 billion KRW worth of virtual assets received from Delio to B&S, resulting in losses. This case follows Bang’s fraud charges that emerged after the FTX withdrawal suspension incident in November 2022, with additional investigations ongoing into a 400 billion KRW fraud case.
Prosecutors argue that Bang illegally managed the assets received from Haru Invest and Delio, leading to substantial damages. Bang has requested recognition for his abilities and assets, pledging to make every effort to distribute the assets fairly to the victims. In his final statement, he said, “I had no personal intention of embezzlement and take full responsibility.” He also acknowledged, “My actions caused significant financial damage and subsequent chain reactions.”
Victims have filed charges against the management of Delio and Haru Invest for fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, and have applied for creditor rehabilitation. The possibility of recovering losses for investors who entrusted their money to Delio and Haru Invest remains a significant concern. Bang’s case highlights the risks associated with centralized finance (CeFi) services, revealing the vulnerabilities of traditional corporate or institutional methods used to provide cryptocurrency financial services. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for 2:00 PM on August 13. The impact and outcome of Bang’s case on the cryptocurrency industry will continue to be closely watched.
