Top Executives at V Global Crypto Exchange Imprisoned 

Top executives nabbed

Increasing regulation in South Korea due to the ongoing ups and downs of extended crypto winter and the urgent need of a watchdog over the industry. Amid tough squeeze, two executives of crypto exchange V Global, named Mr.Oh and Mr.Yang are imprisoned for three and eight years respectively for charges of defrauding their investors.

V Global’s claims of over 300% in returns which aimed to attract investors, sounded more like a ponzi scheme. The malicious acts of the firm took place between July 2020 to April 2021, to trap almost 6 million Korean won via money deposited by new signup customers in exchange falling under bait of a whopping 18 million returns fast.

According to CoinGecko, South Korea was at the top in list of worst affected nations in recent FTX bankruptcy storm. It sums up to a total average 297,229 unique users monthly on FTX website. This consisted of almost 6.1% of the website’s traffic. 

In a matter of a year, V Global succeeded to gain an estimated 50,000 investors while users were fakely guaranteed via a scheme claiming 12 million won in pure commission. Few executives were caught while rest of the employees were held in custody for investigation, breaching the Act on the Regulation of Similar Reception Act, fraud and infringement of the Door-to-Door Sales Act. 

Government to increase further crypto regulations

As per news reports, the South Korean government increases crypto regulation, as an outcome of TerraUSD collapse and recent Sam Bankman-Fried led FTX crash back in 2022. The legislators focused on investors’ protection in the virtual assets industry, and recommended harsh punishments for unfair trade practices.

The National Assembly’s unnamed official addressed to the press: “In the U.S., since the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) exercises a wide range of powers, it is possible to punish unfair trade in virtual assets without separate legislation, but in Korea, related legislation is absolutely necessary.”

Back in early November 2022, local media reported that the National Assembly and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) were coordinating to enact legislation to facilitate financial bodies to monitor and regulate crypto exchanges in the country. 

According to media reports, the Judge of 12th Criminal Division of the Suwon District Court stated: “The defendants only trusted the V Global management team, evaded responsibility, and once the investigation began, they destroyed evidence and interfered with the investigation. The defendants acknowledged and reflected on the facts themselves, and many of the victims reinvested the proceeds from their existing investments, so the actual amount of damage was less than the legally defrauded amount.”

Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.

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