A South Korean woman has been given a suspended jail sentence after stealing her ex-husband’s $1.3 million worth of cryptocurrency. The theft occurred following the end of their common-law marriage. The 14th Criminal Division of the Incheon District Court found the woman guilty of violating the Act on the Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization. Additionally, she was found guilty of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Despite the guilty verdicts, the judge decided to suspend the 18-month prison sentence for two years. The court heard that the woman gained access to her ex-husband’s wallet by using a desktop PC at his residence in Gangnam, Seoul. She then transferred the stolen cryptocurrency to a wallet she had created on her mobile phone. This criminal act took place on the same day that their common-law marriage ended.
The court proceedings revealed that the couple had been in a common-law marriage since the end of 2015 and had two children together. The judge ruled that the woman had abused the trust of her former partner to steal a significant portion of his assets. It was mentioned that their disagreements over the division of shared belongings and assets had motivated the woman to commit the theft.
However, the judge acknowledged that there were some extenuating circumstances that led to the suspension of the jail sentence. Furthermore, investigators were able to confiscate the stolen cryptocurrency and return it to the woman’s ex-husband. This case reflects comparable instances where individuals have misappropriated public funds for cryptocurrency investments, resulting in suspended sentences and probation periods.
