South Korean Court Ruling: Haru Invest CEO Acquitted

According to local media reports, the Southern District Court of Seoul, South Korea, declared Haru Invest CEO Lee Hyung-soo not guilty on Tuesday, after he was previously charged with fraud. The case is related to Haru's sudden suspension of user withdrawals and closure of offices in June 2023.

Prosecutors initially accused Haru of defrauding 16,000 investors out of 1.39 trillion won (approximately 1.02 billion USD), later revising the amount down to 880.5 billion won (approximately 650 million USD), involving about 6,000 victims.

The court ruled that while Lee displayed significant managerial negligence, his actions did not constitute “fraud” in the criminal sense. The court also pointed out that Haru's issues were related to the liquidity crisis triggered by the FTX bankruptcy, and Lee's defense argued that Haru had a legitimate business model that was genuinely profitable, rather than being a Ponzi scheme.

During a court appearance last August, Lee was stabbed in the neck four times by a man who claimed to have lost 100 BTC with Haru. The man was sentenced to five years in prison this April.

The two co-CEOs of Haru's parent company Blockcrafters, Park and Song, were also acquitted. The Chief Operating Officer Kang was found guilty of embezzlement and was sentenced to two years in prison.

The court emphasized that this ruling only absolves criminal liability, and victims can still seek compensation through civil avenues. Lee stated that he is trying to recover losses through bankruptcy proceedings.

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