A man in South Korea was sentenced to four years in prison for laundering $68,000 using cryptocurrency

According to Dlnews, a South Korean man was sentenced to a heavier punishment by the court when he appealed for a reduced sentence after laundering $68,000 for a voice phishing gang using cryptocurrency.

The man originally received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence with a four-year probation from the local court. Dissatisfied with the ruling, he appealed to the Suwon High Court, which resulted in the revocation of his probation and a direct sentence of four years in prison. The court found that the defendant was not merely a participant but played a "key role" in the voice phishing gang, having referred to himself as the "person in charge" and receiving daily operational reports from the gang.

Members of the gang impersonated prosecutors, warning victims that their identities had been stolen, and induced them to transfer funds into "safe" accounts, which were then converted into cryptocurrency and sent to addresses abroad. The court noted that the defendant had a criminal record and had not learned from his past, 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.