A South Korean man was sentenced to four years in prison for laundering $68,000 using cryptocurrency.

According to Dlnews, a South Korean man who laundered $68,000 for a phishing ring using cryptocurrency was instead given a harsher sentence on appeal. He had initially received a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence of four years in prison from a district court. Dissatisfied with the verdict, he appealed to the Suwon High Court, which overturned the suspended sentence and handed down a four-year prison term. The court ruled that the defendant was not merely a participant but played a "key role" in the phishing ring, having claimed to be the "leader" and received daily operational reports from the group. Members of the ring impersonated prosecutors, warning victims of identity theft and inducing them to transfer funds to "safe" accounts, which were then converted into cryptocurrency and sent to overseas addresses. The court noted that the defendant had a prior criminal record and had not learned his lesson, making him "likely to commit similar crimes again," hence the severe punishment. Under South Korean law, the defendant can still appeal to the Supreme Court.