[Delio Verdict] 3 '70 Billion Coin Fraud Preliminary Charges Added'... Prosecution Strategy Worked

The prosecution secured a guilty verdict for fraud involving 70 billion won in virtual assets against Delio CEO Jeong Daepyo by adding preliminary charges during the trial.

The court initially ruled that the main charges, based on evidence deemed illegally collected, were not proven. However, it found the preliminary charges related to 1,078 victims supported by other evidence, leading to a guilty verdict.

Without the additional preliminary charges, the case would have only involved violations of the Specific Financial Transaction Information Act (Special Financial Transaction Law), carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The court sentenced Jeong to 15 years on August 13, 2026, for fraud involving 70 billion 27 million 360 thousand 3226 won in digital assets and violations of the Special Financial Transaction Law.

Jeong's defense argued that prosecution-collected database evidence was illegally obtained. The court partially accepted this, ruling that the initial seizure was justified due to potential data deletion but deemed a second seizure—where prosecutors selected 65 server tables from 202 into 133 files—as illegal for lacking transparency and victim participation.

Prosecutors added preliminary charges targeting victims who had specifically opted into Delio's deposit service, rather than merely depositing assets. The court found that other evidence, including bankruptcy administrator records, could verify the timing and amount of asset transfers from 1,078 victims between March 23, 2022, and July 28, 2023.