The CEO of the South Korean cryptocurrency yield platform Delio, Jung Sang-ho, openly misled investors by claiming that their deposits were not “principal protected” when they moved their funds to the platform. Delio went bankrupt last year and is owed creditors an estimated 250 billion won ($181 million). At the second hearing of the first criminal trial, which took place on June 25 at the Seoul Southern District Court, Jung reportedly said to the audience, “I never promised a guarantee of principal,” according to a report by the local news agency Etoday Korea. The terms and conditions were rather explicit, and we were mandated by the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to inform investors of this via our website.
Creditors, however, retaliated swiftly, asking, “Why are deposits and staking considered investments?” Additionally, the prosecution has claimed that a duty of care owed to clients is the main guarantee. The prosecution and creditors’ claims, according to Jung’s legal team, were “factually incorrect,” as the assets lent by the platform had no collateral and its operational handling made up “only 5% of their assets” when FTX collapsed.
Jung is presently facing accusations of embezzlement, fraud, and breach of trust related to the Delio platform’s demise. July 23 is the day of the CEO’s next hearing. Delio was the first Korean business in the crypto lending and depositing space to receive FIU clearance for Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in 2022. “Delio has developed and run a top-notch information security system that rivals that of financial institutions like Hana Bank, having earned its Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) certification last year. Delio intends to offer services based on dependability, security, and safety with VASP accreditation,” the company stated at the time.
Haru Invest, Delio’s sibling company, halted deposits and withdrawals on June 13, 2023, alleging a problem with a “consignment operator.” Delio followed suit the next day, probably as a result of counterparty exposure, after the action. Most of Haru Invest’s employees have apparently been let go since the announcement. The business claims that legal action is being taken against its service provider at this time. The majority of the cryptocurrency deposits made by Haru Invest’s clients were allegedly embezzled by its officials, who reinvested the proceeds between March 2020 and June 2023, according to the prosecution. It is stated that the executives misrepresented Haru as running a reliable company with “risk-free diversified investment techniques.”
CEO of Delio Jung Sang-ho stated that the company will resume withdrawals on June 17, 2023, albeit there would be no set timeline at that time. The business started accepting withdrawals for a subset of its staking services on June 27, 2023.