Scam coin victims fume after court hands $5m fraudsters ‘lenient sentences’

The victims of a $5.4 million South Korean crypto scam say they’re unhappy that the fraudsters who duped them out of their money have escaped with a “slap on the wrist.”

The victims spoke out through a lawyer after the Incheon District Court found the scam’s two masterminds guilty of fraud and organized crime, jailing one for four years and the other for 18 months. The same court handed out shorter jail sentences, some suspended, and probation orders to 28 other members of the crypto scam network, the South Korean newspaper Joongboo Ilbo reported.

“It is hard to understand why the gang members were sentenced in this way, with some even receiving suspended sentences,” said Kim Kyung-nam, the lawyer representing most of the scam’s 150 victims, and the head of For You Law Firm. “The victims are still unable to lead normal economic lives as a result of these crimes.”

Crypto-related fraud and crypto crime are on the rise in South Korea. In September, the country’s financial regulators reported crypto service providers filed 36,684 suspicious transaction reports in the first eight months of 2025. That figure exceeded the combined total for the past two years and marked a record high.

Scam coin fraud

“Considering the circumstances, we believe the perpetrators should be sentenced to at least four to seven years in prison,” Kim said. “These crimes were highly organized in nature.”

Prosecutors told the court the group “systematically committed crimes using so-called scam coins.”

In South Korea, this term typically refers to fake coins or extremely low-cap, unlisted altcoins.

The prosecution explained that the group duped victims into buying “worthless coins” and “promising to resell them at a higher price later.” After receiving payment, the group then cut off contact with their victims before laundering the latter’s money.

The group targeted residents of Incheon’s Namdong District between August 2022 and May 2023.

Kim hit out at the court for its decision to hand out 18-month suspended sentences to two unnamed individuals in particular.

The court found the duo guilty of embezzling over $6 million worth of the victims’ money. But, under the terms of the court’s order, neither of the pair will spend time in jail if they do not reoffend in the near future.

Kim also said that the court only issued a four-year jail term to one of the masterminds because that individual had prior convictions.

The court, however, explained its reasoning in sentencing, claiming that most of the gang’s members had “joined the criminal group without knowing the full extent of the crimes.”

“It appears to the court that they were coerced into criminality by the ringleaders after recognising the illegality of what they were doing,” the presiding judge said.

The names of the defendants and the coins involved were withheld for legal reasons.

Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at tdalper@dlnews.com.