Fake stock-trading operator jailed for laundering $2.9m in crypto

A court in South Korea has jailed a man who launched a fake securities trading platform and used crypto to launder his $4.2 million profits.

The site’s operators ripped logos and other data from an unnamed “famous” securities firm in an attempt to give their scheme a veneer of authenticity, the South Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo wrote.

The case was conducted at the Gwangju District Court’s Criminal Division, where Presiding Judge Kim Young-gyu heard that the platform operators had defrauded 116 victims. Kim jailed the man for eight years.

“Money laundering was a key element in this criminal scheme,” Kim said. “The defendant played a key and leading role in the money laundering process. His level of responsibility is very high. The court feels that he needs to be punished severely.”

The cases highlights how a wave of crime has swept across the crypto industry. Cryptocurrency investment fraud caused more than $5.8 billion in reported losses in 2024, according to the FBI.

Cybercriminals have stolen over $2.4 billion in 2025 through hacks and exploits, double the total stolen in 2024, according to DefiLlama. So-called pig-butchering scams are surging, with $4 billion stolen from victims in 2024, Chainalysis data shows.

Money launderer jailed

The 43-year-old man, unnamed in the media for legal reasons, was found guilty of violating South Korean internet fraud laws.

He was tried along with three unnamed accomplices who helped him use undisclosed cryptocurrencies to “conceal the proceeds of their crime.”

One of these accomplices received a three-year jail term. Another was jailed for two years and 10 months, with the third sent to prison for two and a half years.

The court heard that the accomplices, all aged 41, helped the man convert $2.9 million worth of the investors’ money to crypto in a series of transactions that involved corporate bank accounts and private wallets.

The mastermind preyed on victims through social media channels, promising them “high returns” on their stakes, the Korean-language media outlet Gwangju Times reported.

He continued to deceive investors by sending them small payouts that he claimed were investment returns. The accomplices also tried to launder funds by buying gift certificates from major retail chains.

Prosecutors told the court that the bogus site went live in June 2024, with police shutting it down in October last year.

Tim Alper is a news correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email at [e-mail].