South Korean Teacher Jailed for Stealing Students’ Money to Buy Crypto

A South Korean court has jailed a teacher who stole money from students and their parents to “squander” on crypto purchases.

Per the South Korean media outlets Jeju Sori and Newsis, a branch of the Jeju District Court, on the island province of Jeju, rejected an appeal from the teacher – unnamed and aged in their 30s.

South Korean Teacher Jailed for Two Years

The court ordered the teacher to serve two years in jail, after hearing they had stolen 80 million won ($54,500) and spent most of the money on unnamed cryptoassets.

The court heard that the teacher “embezzled” the money from students and their parents, as well as “fraudulently selling second-hand goods” in an “online scam” worth approximately 7 million won ($4,770).

The court dismissed the defendant’s appeal, noting that the judge in the teacher’s previous trial had already “taken the defendant’s remorse into account.”

The teacher’s legal team had also argued that the defendant had “paid back” part of the money stolen from the students.

But the appellate court said there was “no reason to take this into consideration in sentencing,” as the original court verdict, in November last year, had already done so.

Crypto Crime: On the Rise in Jeju?

The court heard that the defendant worked as a teacher at a high school in Jeju, where they began stealing money in March last year.

The prosecution explained that the teacher had discovered that some of their students had “financial problems.”

The teacher then deceived the students by saying that they would resolve these problems, taking funds from students and their parents alike.

However, the defendant later failed to return the money they had received, the court heard.

The court further heard that the teacher also borrowed about $4,000 from “acquaintances and other people.”

The teacher also failed to pay back these loans, the prosecution added. The court also heard that the teacher spent “most of the proceeds of their crimes” on crypto investments.

Crypto-related crimes have dominated news headlines in Jeju this year. Of particular note is the gruesome suspected murder of an over-the-counter (OTC) crypto trader, who was found stabbed to death in a luxury hotel room in Jeju in late February.