ChainCatcher reports, according to Dlnews, a South Korean man had his sentence increased by the court when appealing for a reduced penalty after using cryptocurrency to launder $68,000 for a voice phishing gang.
The man originally received a sentence of two and a half years in prison with a four-year probation from a district court. Dissatisfied with the verdict, he appealed to the Suwon High Court, only to have his probation revoked and be directly sentenced to four years in prison. The court considered that the defendant was not merely a participant but played a “key role” in the voice phishing gang, having claimed to be the “person in charge” and receiving daily operational reports from the gang.
Gang members impersonated prosecutors, warning victims that their identities had been stolen and inducing them to transfer funds into “safe” accounts, after which the funds were converted into cryptocurrency and sent to addresses abroad. The court noted that the defendant had a prior criminal record and had not learned from it, making it “highly likely that he would commit similar crimes again,” thus imposing a severe punishment. Under South Korean law, the defendant can still appeal to the Supreme Court.
