Korean encryption eyewash V Global involved 1.4 billion USD! Three executives were only sentenced to 3 years probation and fined several hundred thousand dollars.

A South Korean court has ruled against three executives of the V Global Crypto Assets eyewash, and although the judge acknowledged that they caused an "astronomical" loss of up to $1.4 billion to 50,000 victims, they were ultimately sentenced to three years in prison (suspended) and fined. This ruling stands in stark contrast to the severe penalties imposed on the mastermind of the scam, sparking discussions about the fairness of the sentencing.

Court Ruling: Executives Receive Suspended Sentences, Sparking Controversy

According to South Korean media Seoul Shinmun and Yonhap, on September 14, the Daejeon District Court's Cheonan Branch made a ruling against three V Global executives who were convicted of violating the Specific Economic Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act.

The court sentenced the three individuals to three years in prison, but all sentences are suspended, and they were placed on five years probation. At the same time, the judge imposed fines on them:

• The first defendant (a 61-year-old woman) was fined 660 million won (approximately 474,000 USD).
• The second defendant (a 63-year-old woman) was fined 426 million won (approximately 306,000 USD).
• The third defendant (a 57-year-old male) was fined 259 million won (approximately 186,000 USD).

The presiding judge stated: "The defendants exploited the public's interest in Crypto Assets, causing astronomical damages. Over 50,000 victims are still living in the economic and psychological pain brought about by this crime. The damage to society is immense and deserves severe punishment." However, the judge also pointed out that these executives had ensured that some victims received a portion of the promised "profits," which may be one of the reasons for a lighter sentence.

V Global eyewash review: 1.4 billion dollar Ponzi scheme

V Global eyewash utilizes a carefully designed multi-level marketing (MLM) model to attract customers. The platform gains trust by creating a seemingly real trading interface that mimics legitimate South Korean exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb. The charts and trading volume data on the platform appear to be genuine, but at its core is a tiered membership system that诱导 users to receive "rewards" by "recruiting new members." These rewards are distributed in the form of V Global's own coin.

The court later ruled that these tokens, like the entire trading platform, were eyewash and had never actually existed on any blockchain protocol. The eyewash began to unravel in 2021 when customers complained that they could not withdraw funds from the platform.

Comparison of Executives' Penalties: The Huge Gap with the Main Offenders

Although these three executives received probation, other key orchestrators of V Global faced much harsher penalties. The CEO of the eyewash, Lee (whose full name was not disclosed for legal reasons), was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2023 for masterminding the entire scheme. Other senior executives were sentenced to 14 years and 4 years in prison, respectively.

This sentencing disparity highlights the different considerations that South Korean courts have regarding the roles played by different levels of offenders in handling Crypto Assets crimes.

Conclusion

The verdict of the V Global executives has once again raised concerns about the consistency of sentencing in the judiciary when dealing with large-scale financial crimes, especially those in the Crypto Assets sector. Although the main perpetrators of the eyeglass were severely punished, this case also highlights the complexity of prosecuting such large-scale Crypto Assets scams and the challenges faced in seeking justice for all victims.