Legendary Idol’s Husband Faces Prison Sentence For Fraud

According to reports on October 31, first-generation idol and actress Sung Yuri‘s husband and pro-golfer, Ahn Sung Hyun, is facing a prison sentence on charges of soliciting tens of billions of won under the pretext of listing a virtual currency.

On October 29, during the sentence hearing at the Seoul Southern District Court, the prosecution reportedly sought seven years in prison for Ahn. In addition, they requested a fine of ₩2.00 billion KRW (about $1.45 million USD), confiscation of his luxury watches, and a surcharge of ₩1.50 billion KRW (about $1.09 million USD).

Lee Sang Joon, the CEO of Bithumb Holdings, was also indicted with Ahn. The prosecution demanded a five-year prison sentence, confiscation of ₩30.5 million KRW (about $22,100 USD), and a [krw[ 1.525 billion [/krw] surcharge for him.

Ahn and Lee are accused of embezzlement in collaboration with Kang Jong Hyun, the controversial ex-boyfriend of actress Park Min Young. The two allegedly received tens of billions of won from Kang between September and November 2021 in exchange for a request to list coin “A” on the Bithumb Exchange. The prosecution claimed that the two received [krw] 3 billion [/krw] in cash, two luxury watches worth ₩400 million KRW (about $290,000 USD), and a high-end restaurant membership card worth ₩11.5 million KRW (about $8,340 USD) from Kang and Song, an official from the coin issuance company.

Additionally, Ahn Sung Hyun is also accused of deceiving Kang and embezzling ₩2.00 billion KRW (about $1.45 million USD) separately in violation of the Specific Economic Crimes Aggravation Act.

Ahn and Lee were sent to trial without detention last year in September. The Supreme Court is scheduled to proceed with the sentencing on December 26.