Former professional golfer Ahn Sung-hyun, who is known for being the husband of singer-actress Sung Yu-ri, was arrested in court.
In particular, on December 26, the 11th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Jeong Do-seong) sentenced Ahn Sung-hyun, who was brought to trial on charges of embezzlement and violation of the Specific Economic Crimes Act (fraud), to 4 years and 6 months in prison.
Previously in October 2022, Ahn Sung-hyun became the center of controversy when it was revealed that he was the owner of a foreign car driven by Kang Jong-hyun, who is suspected of being the real owner of the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb. Kang Jong-hyun is known to be the ex-boyfriend of actress Park Min-young and a notorious scammer in terms of coin fraud.
Additionally, on October 29th, during a sentencing hearing at the Seoul Southern District Court’s Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Jeong Do-seong), the prosecution sought a seven-year prison term for Ahn Sung-hyun, who was charged with conspiring to solicit the listing of a cryptocurrency. The prosecution also requested a fine of 2 billion KRW (about 1.3 million USD), the confiscation of two luxury watches and a restitution order of 1.5 billion KRW (approx. 1 million USD).
For Lee Sang-jun, who was also indicted alongside Ahn, the prosecution sought a five-year prison sentence, the confiscation of 30.5 million KRW and a restitution order of 1.525 billion KRW.
Ahn Sung-hyun is accused of colluding with an employee responsible for listings at Bithumb to solicit billions of KRW in bribes from companies in exchange for listing cryptocurrencies. He is also charged with deceiving Park Min-young’s ex-lover Kang Jong-hyun by claiming that former Bithumb Holdings CEO Lee Sang-jun was demanding the listing fee of 2 billion KRW urgently, resulting in Ahn receiving 2 billion KRW.
On the other hand, ,Ahn Sung-hyun married Sung Yu-ri, a former member of 1st generation K-pop girl group Fin.K.L., in 2017 and they have twin daughters.
Sung Yu-ri, who halted her activities due to her husband’s controversy, expressed her grievances earlier this year, saying, “I earnestly pray that the truth about the unfair and difficult things my family has been going through will be revealed.”