Former Pro Golfer Ahn Sung Hyun, Husband of Seong Yuri, Acquitted in Second Trial

Accused of Receiving Large Sums for Cryptocurrency Listings
Appeals Court: "Ahn Was the Provider, Not the Recipient"

Former professional golfer Ahn Sung Hyun, who was sentenced to four years and six months in prison in the first trial for allegedly receiving illegal fees worth billions of won in exchange for listing cryptocurrencies, was acquitted in the second trial.

Seonghyun Ahn is attending a pre-arrest hearing at the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, on September 1, 2023. Photo by Yonhap News

On February 2, the 13th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Baek Kangjin, Kim Sunhee, and Yoo Donggyun) acquitted Ahn of charges of fraud and breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. Former Bithumb Holdings CEO Lee Sangjun, who was tried alongside Ahn for conspiracy, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for three years, and ordered to forfeit 11,525,000 won. Businessman Kang Jonghyun, who requested the listing, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years. In the first trial, Lee was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to forfeit 50,025,000 won, while Kang received one year and six months in prison, but both had their sentences reduced in the second trial. Song, an official from the coin-issuing company, was acquitted as in the first trial.

Ahn was accused of receiving 3 billion won in cash, two luxury watches worth a total of 400 million won, and a membership card to a high-end restaurant from Kang in 2021 in exchange for arranging the listing of Coin A on the Bithumb cryptocurrency exchange, and then sharing these with former CEO Lee Sangjun. Prosecutors charged them with breach of trust in 2023, claiming they had abused their authority over exchange listing reviews for personal gain.

The court, as in the first trial, found Ahn not guilty of receiving 3 billion won from Kang to pass on to Lee as a bribe for the coin listing, and also acquitted him of deceiving Kang by saying, "Lee is asking for the listing fee quickly," and pocketing 2 billion won separately. However, unlike the first trial, the appeals court determined that Ahn was not the recipient but the provider of the luxury watches. Therefore, the charge of breach of trust, which applies to the recipient, could not be established against Ahn.

The appeals court stated, "There is no direct evidence that Ahn conspired in advance with former CEO Lee to receive money in exchange for listing the coin," and explained, "It is more consistent with the facts to see that Ahn, at Kang's request, asked Lee to list the coin." Since Ahn was acquitted of receiving valuables, the charges against Kang for giving valuables to Ahn, as well as against Lee for receiving them in collusion with Ahn, could not be upheld. In the end, only the act of Kang giving valuables to Lee as a bribe for the listing was found guilty.

Seong Yuri, Ahn Sung Hyun Wedding Photos

Regarding former CEO Lee, the court stated, "Accepting improper requests and handling valuables in connection with coin listing work at a virtual asset exchange undermines market fairness and transparency, and can cause financial losses to good-faith investors, making it highly blameworthy." The court also pointed out, "The total amount of valuables received by Lee in return for improper requests in his capacity as an executive of Bithumb's operating company reached 260 million won." Regarding the sentencing, the court explained, "However, Lee also provided Kang with gifts of comparable value to those he received, and with Ahn's acquittal on breach of trust charges, the amount of valuables received has decreased compared to the original verdict."

Meanwhile, Ahn is well known as the husband of Seong Yuri, a former member of the group Fin.K.L. Seong Yuri temporarily suspended her broadcasting activities but returned in April last year through a home shopping program.