South Korean actress and K-drama star Hwang Jung-eum has been handed a suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of embezzling approximately $3 million from her agency to fund cryptocurrency investments.
According to Korea JoongAng Daily, the Seoul court sentenced Hwang to two years in prison, suspended for four years, under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. This means she will not serve jail time unless she commits another offense during her probation.
$3.1M Diverted Into Crypto
The indictment revealed that Hwang diverted nearly 4.34 billion won ($3.1M) in 2022. Of this, 4.2 billion won went directly into crypto markets, while the rest covered property-related expenses and local tax payments.
Her agency, at the center of the scandal, was a single-person company solely owned by Hwang, with no other actors under contract.
Defense: “It Was Her Own Money”
Hwang’s legal team argued that the funds stemmed from her personal entertainment income and were only parked in the agency’s account due to regulatory limits on corporate crypto holdings in South Korea.
“Since the company’s revenue comes from her work, the funds can be viewed as belonging to her,” her attorney told the court.
Despite this defense, Hwang admitted to the charges during her first hearing and requested time to repay the misused funds.
Court Leniency and Repayment
Prosecutors originally sought a three-year prison term, but the court reduced the sentence after considering Hwang’s first-time offender status and the fact that she had repaid the full embezzled amount in three installments.
In a previous statement, Hwang explained her motivations:
“I wanted to expand the company, and around 2021, someone I knew suggested investing in cryptocurrency. I didn’t fully understand it, but I believed it could help grow our funds.”
Rising Crypto-Linked Crime in South Korea
The actress’s sentencing adds to a growing list of crypto-related crime cases in South Korea. Earlier this year:
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Popular crypto influencer “Jonbur Kim” (Coin King) was re-arrested on fraud charges tied to the token Artube.
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Police in Jeju investigated the murder of a Chinese national, reportedly linked to a failed crypto deal.
With increasing high-profile cases like Hwang’s, South Korean regulators continue to keep a close watch on the intersection of finance, celebrity, and cryptocurrency speculation.
