A South Korean woman in her 40s has been sentenced to two years in prison for stealing $500,000 worth of crypto while her boyfriend was sleeping. The woman didn’t reveal her name during the trial. She stole around $488,000 worth of crypto, worth around 683 million won. She stole the funds on January 5 but was only sentenced this week. The woman was convicted of embezzlement. She also stole around $1,430 worth of cash, worth around 2 million won. 

Korean media reported on the case, describing the woman secretly transferring her partner’s crypto, worth around 700 million won. The incident happened on January 5 while her boyfriend was sleeping. The woman has admitted to all the charges but claims that she returned most of the money and only owes around 21.9 million won. The woman asked for leniency because she felt remorseful for her actions and tried to return the stolen funds. However, Korean media reports that the courts gave the woman a harsh sentence, given that she has a history of fraud and that the amount of money was substantial. 

The court in Jeju province, South Korea, handled the court case. The woman’s lawyers pleaded for clemency because the woman had returned most of the money. The woman only owed around $15,000 at the time of the court case, which is still a lot of money, yet a much lesser sum than the original funds. The woman, however, had two previous convictions of fraud and was on trial for another fraud case when she stole her boyfriend’s crypto. The court would not give her a second chance because she had already had plenty of chances flash before her. 

The original crime occurred at 11:50 pm at the boyfriend’s home in Jeju City on January 7. The woman had carefully memorised her boyfriend’s details so that she could access his phone while he was sleeping. The woman stole his phone and used his exchange and banking apps to transfer the funds to her personal bank account. After securing the stolen money, the woman fled, boarding a plane for another part of Korea, where she could presumably enjoy the money she had stolen. However, the police caught up to her at a hotel in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. The woman was then arrested.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ May 17, 2025 5:26 pm