PANews reported on December 26 that according to Korean media reports, former professional golfer An Chengxian was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison in the first instance and detained in court for allegedly collecting huge amounts of money in the name of helping cryptocurrencies go public. The Seoul Southern District Court found that An Chengxian illegally obtained 5 billion won in cash from businessman Jiang Zhongxian, including 2 billion won in separate frauds, but failed to prove that he transferred 3 billion won to former Bithumb Holdings representative Li Shangjun, so he was found to have illegally possessed all the cash.
The court also sentenced Lee Sang-jun, who was prosecuted together with Ahn Sung-hyun, to two years in prison and confiscated 52 million won; Kang Jong-hyun was sentenced to one year and six months for providing bribes such as luxury goods to Lee Sang-jun. Song, a person related to the cryptocurrency issuing company involved in the case, was acquitted.
During the trial, An Chengxian stated that he had never received funds on the condition of listing cryptocurrencies, and claimed that he had suffered huge financial losses and denied any fraud.
