Prosecutors appealed the first-trial ruling for the head of a coin management firm indicted on charges of manipulating virtual asset prices to take illicit gains.
The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office said on the 10th that it appealed the first-trial ruling in the case of a person surnamed Lee, head of a virtual asset firm, citing misinterpretation of law, misapprehension of facts, and unjust sentencing, after the court said it could not order forfeiture because it was impossible to calculate the exact amount of illicit gains.
Earlier, prosecutors sought 10 years in prison, a fine of 23 billion won, and forfeiture of 8.01545 billion won for Lee, who was indicted on charges of violating the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, and six years in prison for an accomplice surnamed Kang.
However, on the 4th, the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced Lee to three years in prison, a fine of 500 million won, and forfeiture of about 846 million won, and gave Kang a three-year suspended sentence for two years in prison.
They are accused of using an automated trading program from July 22 to Oct. 25, 2024, to inflate coin trading volume and repeatedly submit sham buy orders to manipulate prices and take about 7.1 billion won in illicit gains.
The court found the price rigging and acquisition of illicit gains to be guilty, but ruled not guilty by reason of lack of proof with respect to the illicit gains of about 7.1 billion won, citing insufficient proof by the prosecution.
This case is the first violation of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act that prosecutors received via a fast track (urgent measure) from the Financial Supervisory Service after the law took effect in July 2024.