K-drama star Hwang Jung-eum sentenced in $3M crypto embezzlement caseCrypto-related crimes made headlines in South Korea

Hwang Jung-eum, a South Korean actress and K-drama star, was handed a suspended prison sentence for embezzling $3 million from her agency to invest in cryptocurrency.

According to a report from local media outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, Hwang has been sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for four years, for violating South Korea’s Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

This means Hwang was sentenced to two years in prison, but the sentence was suspended for four years, meaning she will not go to jail unless she commits another crime during the probation period.

Hwang has been accused of embezzling roughly 4.34 billion won (approximately $3.1 million) from her own entertainment agency back in 2022, according to the indictment.

Most of those funds, approximately 4.2 billion won, were invested in cryptocurrency, while the remainder was used to pay off property-related and local taxes via credit card.

Notably, the agency in question was a one-person operation solely owned and operated by Hwang herself, with no other actors under management. 

During her trial, Hwang’s legal team said that the funds in question stemmed from her personal entertainment income and were temporarily held in the agency’s account because corporate entities in Korea face restrictions on holding crypto assets directly.

“Since the agency’s profits ultimately stem from the defendant’s own work, they can be seen as rightfully belonging to her,” Hwang’s attorney had argued in court.

Nevertheless, during her first court appearance, Hwang admitted to all charges and asked the court for additional time to repay the embezzled amount.

Prosecutors were initially pushing for a three-year jail sentence, but the court showed some leniency in her sentencing based on the fact that she was a first-time offender and had repaid the full amount across three installments.

“I wanted to grow the company and, around 2021, someone I knew suggested investing in cryptocurrency. I didn’t fully understand it, but I went ahead thinking I could increase company funds,” Hawng said via a statement released through her agency earlier this year.

Crypto-related crimes made headlines in South Korea

South Korea has witnessed a number of headline-grabbing crypto-related crimes this year, besides the Hwang Jung-eum case.

Back in February, local crypto personality Park, better known by his online alias “Jonbur Kim” or the “Coin King,” was re-arrested on fresh fraud charges tied to the manipulation and fraudulent listing of a token called Artube.

In a separate case that same month, police in Jeju launched a murder investigation after a Chinese national in his 30s was found stabbed to death in a luxury hotel room, with the motive believed to be a crypto deal gone wrong.