Global Cryptocurrency Exchange Associates Receive Suspended Sentences in $1.4 Billion Fraud Case

Executives involved in the fraudulent crypto exchange V Global deceived approximately 50,000 customers out of around $1.4 billion and will not face imprisonment.

A South Korean court instead issued suspended sentences to the three unnamed individuals. It imposed fines, acknowledging the “astronomical damages” they had inflicted.

On September 14, the South Korean newspaper Seoul Shinmun and the news agency Yonhap reported that the Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court’s Cheonan Branch delivered its verdict on three individuals found guilty of breaching the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

The presiding judge sentenced all three officials to three years in prison (suspended). The court also mandated five years of probation for them.

The names of the trio were kept confidential for legal reasons. The court ordered the first individual, referred to as A (a 61-year-old woman), to pay a fine of 660 million won ($474,000).

The judge also directed B (63, also female) to pay a fine of 426 million won ($306,000). A man identified as C (aged 57) was ordered to pay 259 million won ($186,000).

V Global Crypto Exchange: Fines, Suspended Sentences, and Probation Orders

The trio, as prosecutors informed the court, held senior roles in organizations that employed multi-level marketing strategies. They were responsible for attracting customers to the V Global platform.

Daejeon District Court. (Source: Minseong Kim [CC BY-SA 4.0])

According to prosecution officials, their actions generated profits of up to 1.5 billion won ($1.1 million) each. During sentencing, the presiding judge remarked:

“The defendants caused astronomical damage by exploiting popular interest in cryptoassets. Over 50,000 victims are still living with the economic and mental pain of this crime. The damage done to society is considerable. A strict punishment is called for.”

However, the judge noted that the executives did ensure that some victims received payouts and the “profits” they had been promised.

The Supreme Court sentenced Lee (given name withheld for legal reasons), the CEO of V Global, to 25 years in prison for orchestrating the fraudulent exchange in 2023.

A Marine Corps sergeant died Saturday after being shot in the head at a unit on an island off the country’s west coast, military officials said.https://t.co/maMKtNNgRc

— The Korea Times (@koreatimescokr) September 13, 2025

A Veneer of Authenticity

The CEO and his team developed a convincing trading platform, crafted to mimic legitimate South Korean exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb.

The platform included real-time price charts for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), along with coin tickers and realistic trading volume tables.

The V Global exchange implemented a “tiered membership system” that utilized sophisticated multi-layered marketing techniques.

Its operators promised members payouts in V Global-branded tokens for “recruiting new members.”

However, the courts later determined that these tokens were as fraudulent as the exchange itself and had never been launched on any blockchain protocol.

South Korean courts have also imprisoned other senior executives of V Global. One individual is currently serving a 14-year sentence, while another is nearing the end of a four-year prison term.

V Global commenced operations in mid-2020. However, the scheme began to collapse in 2021 when dissatisfied customers lodged legal complaints, claiming they were unable to withdraw their assets from the exchange.

At its peak, the fraudulent exchange operated from a location in the center of Seoul’s bustling commercial district.

This district is home to some of the nation’s largest crypto exchanges and most notable blockchain technology startups.

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