A South Korean court has jailed a teacher who stole money from students and their parents to “squander” on crypto purchases. The court ordered the teacher to serve two years in jail, after hearing he 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.”
honestly the involvement of crypto here is not that crucial because he just committed a crime yes with the intention of buying crypto but at the very end he still just really committed a crime and whether he bought crypto or not with the stolen money he still should be convicted guilty(https://cimg.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20145401/1742482441-image-1742458756802_optimized.jpg)
I am sure this teacher was then thinking that he can be able to recover the money invested with good profit but the market was not so kind to him. Instead of teaching his students on financial literacy and the many opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency, this teacher has become a big disgrace to his community. Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.lesson learned should be to just not steal at all no matter for what
you're absolutely right, stealing is never acceptable regardless of the reason or potential outcome, the teacher action was a clear breach of trust, even if he was to be successful in his crypto investment, it unlikely he would have returned the money, his actions show a lack of integrity. the teacher's punishment serves him right.honestly the involvement of crypto here is not that crucial because he just committed a crime yes with the intention of buying crypto but at the very end he still just really committed a crime and whether he bought crypto or not with the stolen money he still should be convicted guilty(https://cimg.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20145401/1742482441-image-1742458756802_optimized.jpg)QuoteI am sure this teacher was then thinking that he can be able to recover the money invested with good profit but the market was not so kind to him. Instead of teaching his students on financial literacy and the many opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency, this teacher has become a big disgrace to his community. Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.lesson learned should be to just not steal at all no matter for what
and i do not know if he had any intentions of bringing the money back, did he? he did promise his students and parents that he will resolve their financial problems but if he had been successful in crypto would he have given the money back?
Too bad he is caught in the dip that took months. He was tempted by the unrealized gains, he could have just use his money or loan to have more of whatever assets he is buying.Loan is also very bad for investing on cryptocurrencies. The best is to use his own money for it and be contented with it. Even using the money that is not directly belonging to him like a loan can let him make wrong decisions in his investment because he will be expecting urgent profit. And one of the reasons for losses in crypto is lack of patience which he will not have.
What a shame, this teacher betray trust of it's student and their parents. But i wonder whether this teacher was under false assumption that cryptocurrency is anonymous/not trackable by default, including the buy/sell process.
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 alikeSo these students had financial problems, yet the teacher was able to steal ~ 80 million won from them, the article does not state exactly how the scam was perpetrated. However, from this excerpt, i think it could be a money doubling scam or investment scam, since it is stated that the victims had financial problems, maybe they were trying to double the little one they had.
~snip~
So these students had financial problems, yet the teacher was able to steal ~ 80 million won from them, the article does not state exactly how the scam was perpetrated.
Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.Stealing in all forms is bad, even if it was the student who stole the money from the teacher. Even if the money was used in buying cryptocurrency or even food. It is a habit that should never be encouraged because it always puts the victim in pain.
~snip~
So these students had financial problems, yet the teacher was able to steal ~ 80 million won from them, the article does not state exactly how the scam was perpetrated.
We are talking about South Korea and the amount is only $54 500, and that is not a lot of money in the country because that amount is only slightly higher than the average salary for the year 2024. If we take into account that about 100 students are included in everything (assumption), then about $500 per student is not money that was difficult to get - even from those who have financial problems.
I don't know the background to the story, but it's possible that the professor may have wanted to help the students, of course while helping himself at the same time. However, investing in cryptocurrencies is a risky business, especially if you "gamble" with other people's money.
Aside from not borrowing and using other people's money in investing in cryptocurrency, another thing that we should not do is to steal money from students and parents as this is a sure-hit formula for great tragedy. I am sure this teacher was then thinking that he can be able to recover the money invested with good profit but the market was not so kind to him. Instead of teaching his students on financial literacy and the many opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency, this teacher has become a big disgrace to his community. Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.Well, so such small news are also being published by News outlets, as for me the amount if not that big and he just embezzled the money, I know it happened in a country where rules are strict and media don't leave a leaf unturn, but this is too much, well, the teacher must be an idiot too, who did such a thing with the money their students have entrusted him with.
However, investing in cryptocurrencies is a risky business, especially if you "gamble" with other people's money.Yeah it is risky, i still know people who tell me that they want to help their friend or loved one from financial distress by introducing them to cryptocurrency investment. I always recommend that they explain things to these people well, if you introduce crypto to your friends as a get rich quick scheme, you might be on your way to losing your very close friends.
What a shame, this teacher betray trust of it's student and their parents. But i wonder whether this teacher was under false assumption that cryptocurrency is anonymous/not trackable by default, including the buy/sell process.
What a shame, this teacher betray trust of it's student and their parents. But i wonder whether this teacher was under false assumption that cryptocurrency is anonymous/not trackable by default, including the buy/sell process.
On what pretense did this teacher ask the students and teachers for the money? As far as I know, only the school administration can ask the students and parents to pay (for tuition, books, whatever). Why is this guy asking for loans and grants himself? And most importantly, how was he able to solicit that much money in the first place?
What a shame, this teacher betray trust of it's student and their parents. But i wonder whether this teacher was under false assumption that cryptocurrency is anonymous/not trackable by default, including the buy/sell process.
On what pretense did this teacher ask the students and teachers for the money? As far as I know, only the school administration can ask the students and parents to pay (for tuition, books, whatever). Why is this guy asking for loans and grants himself? And most importantly, how was he able to solicit that much money in the first place?
Those are good question, but the news doesn't answer any of it. The amount of stolen money isn't that much (compared with average salary on South Korea), although i would speculate there are loophole the teacher could exploit (e.g. asking money for educational tour).
~snip~
I think this guy became desperate having heard of cryptocurrency investments, however, cryptocurrency is not a get rich quick syndrome, there are basic lessons to acquire to effectively trade/invest on crypto assets, there is no short cut for investments.
However, investing in cryptocurrencies is a risky business, especially if you "gamble" with other people's money.Yeah it is risky, i still know people who tell me that they want to help their friend or loved one from financial distress by introducing them to cryptocurrency investment. I always recommend that they explain things to these people well, if you introduce crypto to your friends as a get rich quick scheme, you might be on your way to losing your very close friends.
A two-year sentence is way too short for this.The amount is not so large and from what i also read, the students have been repaid, so i believe the sentencing is a fair one, though some people might think otherwise. I am sure the teacher must have learnt his lessons and after spending two years in jail would probably not go back to such.
Aside from not borrowing and using other people's money in investing in cryptocurrency, another thing that we should not do is to steal money from students and parents as this is a sure-hit formula for great tragedy. I am sure this teacher was then thinking that he can be able to recover the money invested with good profit but the market was not so kind to him. Instead of teaching his students on financial literacy and the many opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency, this teacher has become a big disgrace to his community. Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.Well, I'm also a lecturer but I've never handled student's money. Students manage their own funds instead of through teachers. I also don't have any chance to teach them financial management skills, I can only guide them to learn the theory of electromagnetic waves and semiconductor materials ^^
Aside from not borrowing and using other people's money in investing in cryptocurrency, another thing that we should not do is to steal money from students and parents as this is a sure-hit formula for great tragedy. I am sure this teacher was then thinking that he can be able to recover the money invested with good profit but the market was not so kind to him. Instead of teaching his students on financial literacy and the many opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency, this teacher has become a big disgrace to his community. Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.Well, I'm also a lecturer but I've never handled student's money. Students manage their own funds instead of through teachers. I also don't have any chance to teach them financial management skills, I can only guide them to learn the theory of electromagnetic waves and semiconductor materials ^^
I'm quite surprised at the amount of money this teacher could misappropriate, up to over $50K, that's a huge amount of money that I have to work 100 months to earn. I'm quite curious about the tokens he invested in, maybe they're just memecoins instead of BTC or ETH.
(https://cimg.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20145401/1742482441-image-1742458756802_optimized.jpg)Quote
A South Korean court has jailed a teacher who stole money from students and their parents to “squander” on crypto purchases. The court ordered the teacher to serve two years in jail, after hearing he 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.”
More of this story here at Cryptonews (https://cryptonews.com/news/south-korean-teacher-jailed-for-stealing-students-money-to-spend-on-crypto/).
Aside from not borrowing and using other people's money in investing in cryptocurrency, another thing that we should not do is to steal money from students and parents as this is a sure-hit formula for great tragedy. I am sure this teacher was then thinking that he can be able to recover the money invested with good profit but the market was not so kind to him. Instead of teaching his students on financial literacy and the many opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency, this teacher has become a big disgrace to his community. Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.
(https://cimg.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20145401/1742482441-image-1742458756802_optimized.jpg)Quote
A South Korean court has jailed a teacher who stole money from students and their parents to “squander” on crypto purchases. The court ordered the teacher to serve two years in jail, after hearing he 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.”
More of this story here at Cryptonews (https://cryptonews.com/news/south-korean-teacher-jailed-for-stealing-students-money-to-spend-on-crypto/).
Aside from not borrowing and using other people's money in investing in cryptocurrency, another thing that we should not do is to steal money from students and parents as this is a sure-hit formula for great tragedy. I am sure this teacher was then thinking that he can be able to recover the money invested with good profit but the market was not so kind to him. Instead of teaching his students on financial literacy and the many opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency, this teacher has become a big disgrace to his community. Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.
Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.This is the first time I have heard of a teacher stealing from their students to invest in crypto. That doesn't rhyme up well for a teacher to do because the teacher's line of duty doesn't include crypto investment in their syllabus.
Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.This is the first time I have heard of a teacher stealing from their students to invest in crypto. That doesn't rhyme up well for a teacher to do because the teacher's line of duty doesn't include crypto investment in their syllabus.
Any teacher caught in such an act is a scammer who should be arrested because you, as a teacher, are not employed to do such a thing, to convince people to invest in crypto that they have less knowledge of.
I think the judge should have heard him, if his way of stealing was to get crypto assets, then this means the money is technically there just in another form!
For his freedom why not trade the coins for a return of the said money to the affected students and parents..
From the look of things I wouldn't be surprised if he just wanted to use the funds to benefit from the small profits.
For his freedom why not trade the coins for a return of the said money to the affected students and parents..Lol, the source reports that the funds have been returned to the victims. However, if you steal from people and later get arrested, and then you return the money, it does not mean you get a pat on the back and you are told to go home, you are still going to face the law for your crimes.
What a shame, this teacher betray trust of it's student and their parents. But i wonder whether this teacher was under false assumption that cryptocurrency is anonymous/not trackable by default, including the buy/sell process.
On what pretense did this teacher ask the students and teachers for the money? As far as I know, only the school administration can ask the students and parents to pay (for tuition, books, whatever). Why is this guy asking for loans and grants himself? And most importantly, how was he able to solicit that much money in the first place?
Those are good question, but the news doesn't answer any of it. The amount of stolen money isn't that much (compared with average salary on South Korea), although i would speculate there are loophole the teacher could exploit (e.g. asking money for educational tour).
it said that the teacher specifically targeted financially struggling families and told them he could solve their financial problems had he been given their moneyWhat a shame, this teacher betray trust of it's student and their parents. But i wonder whether this teacher was under false assumption that cryptocurrency is anonymous/not trackable by default, including the buy/sell process.
On what pretense did this teacher ask the students and teachers for the money? As far as I know, only the school administration can ask the students and parents to pay (for tuition, books, whatever). Why is this guy asking for loans and grants himself? And most importantly, how was he able to solicit that much money in the first place?
Instead of teaching his students on financial literacy and the many opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency, this teacher has become a big disgrace to his community. Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.If there's such a thing as gambling addiction, there's also such a thing as investing addiction, but unfortunately for the teacher, he is betting on the wrong coins instead of the most proven coins in the market. He wants quick profit from his investment, and it badly backfires on him; not only does he lose his license to teach, but with his bad record, he will have a hard time finding a job.
it said that the teacher specifically targeted financially struggling families and told them he could solve their financial problems had he been given their moneyWhat a shame, this teacher betray trust of it's student and their parents. But i wonder whether this teacher was under false assumption that cryptocurrency is anonymous/not trackable by default, including the buy/sell process.
On what pretense did this teacher ask the students and teachers for the money? As far as I know, only the school administration can ask the students and parents to pay (for tuition, books, whatever). Why is this guy asking for loans and grants himself? And most importantly, how was he able to solicit that much money in the first place?
i do not know if there is cultural divide here but it is very common for teachers to be in contact with their students' parents going as far to talking personal things with each other so it is not a shock that the teacher could ask for money from his students' families especially if the school is not that big and only hosts a few students
it said that the teacher specifically targeted financially struggling families and told them he could solve their financial problems had he been given their moneyWhat a shame, this teacher betray trust of it's student and their parents. But i wonder whether this teacher was under false assumption that cryptocurrency is anonymous/not trackable by default, including the buy/sell process.
On what pretense did this teacher ask the students and teachers for the money? As far as I know, only the school administration can ask the students and parents to pay (for tuition, books, whatever). Why is this guy asking for loans and grants himself? And most importantly, how was he able to solicit that much money in the first place?
i do not know if there is cultural divide here but it is very common for teachers to be in contact with their students' parents going as far to talking personal things with each other so it is not a shock that the teacher could ask for money from his students' families especially if the school is not that big and only hosts a few students
---Well, aside from the lesson that you shared, I also have to share another lesson that we must learn from this one which is "Don't be greedy".
Aside from not borrowing and using other people's money in investing in cryptocurrency, another thing that we should not do is to steal money from students and parents as this is a sure-hit formula for great tragedy. I am sure this teacher was then thinking that he can be able to recover the money invested with good profit but the market was not so kind to him. Instead of teaching his students on financial literacy and the many opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency, this teacher has become a big disgrace to his community. Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.
The teacher is really worth being in jail stealing from your own student and their parents is really a bad character and the crypto currency’s which he invest on is unknown at least we could have checked if really it worth it. I guess mr teacher did a better research which he thought will be more profitable for him that made him invested a lot of money into the asset.---Well, aside from the lesson that you shared, I also have to share another lesson that we must learn from this one which is "Don't be greedy".
Aside from not borrowing and using other people's money in investing in cryptocurrency, another thing that we should not do is to steal money from students and parents as this is a sure-hit formula for great tragedy. I am sure this teacher was then thinking that he can be able to recover the money invested with good profit but the market was not so kind to him. Instead of teaching his students on financial literacy and the many opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency, this teacher has become a big disgrace to his community. Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.
Stealing in general is considered a bad thing, and I would rather borrow funds from another person than stealing it. I mean as much as possible, let's not steal things to other people. This is a general thing, and as for this teacher, it's just good that he went to prison because of what he did. I wonder where did he invested all of those money that he stole, and if it's worth it to steal other people's funds just to have some money to invest.
It's just sad that the teacher did the traditional way of stealing. He could've just created a meme coin during the meme coin hype, then just rug pulled those greedy investors out there. That would be better and what's best is that, he will not be going to jail with that action. :D
This case made me recall how some teachers are depicted in Korean manhwa. I guess there's some truth to that, although corruption can happen everywhere. The soft power a teacher holds over the students and their families is clearly exaggerated, although such things do happen in real life, just like in this case.It's art imitating life. I mean it could really happen anywhere in the world because teachers has so much respect although in some Western countries, teachers might have abused their power in different ways. And with strict laws, make sense that the verdict for the teacher is jail time. Abuse of trust, then financial fraud, misuse of the money for personal gain. Could also be lessons for teachers in the same school not to do this kind of manipulation.
And with strict laws, make sense that the verdict for the teacher is jail time. Abuse of trust, then financial fraud, misuse of the money for personal gain. Could also be lessons for teachers in the same school not to do this kind of manipulation.Yeah, I'm not surprised that some teachers are corrupt because humans are just like that. On the other hand, I heard teachers struggle because their payments aren't so good in South Korea, CMIIW. Hopefully, the government won't stop at punishing people for doing scammy activity like this but also improve their well-being to reduce stuff like this from happening in the future.
Aside from not borrowing and using other people's money in investing in cryptocurrency, another thing that we should not do is to steal money from students and parents as this is a sure-hit formula for great tragedy. I am sure this teacher was then thinking that he can be able to recover the money invested with good profit but the market was not so kind to him. Instead of teaching his students on financial literacy and the many opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency, this teacher has become a big disgrace to his community. Lessons learned: never be a teacher that steals money for crypto.
And with strict laws, make sense that the verdict for the teacher is jail time. Abuse of trust, then financial fraud, misuse of the money for personal gain. Could also be lessons for teachers in the same school not to do this kind of manipulation.Yeah, I'm not surprised that some teachers are corrupt because humans are just like that. On the other hand, I heard teachers struggle because their payments aren't so good in South Korea, CMIIW. Hopefully, the government won't stop at punishing people for doing scammy activity like this but also improve their well-being to reduce stuff like this from happening in the future.
~snipBased on the story that you narrated, I don't think the teacher has the intention of returning back the money to the student's parents. He stole the money and invest in cryptocurrency for his own benefits, but its sound like things doesn't work out for him. If he collects the money with the concept of the parents the case may be a little bit different, moreover it's not advisable to convince someone to invest in cryptocurrency because its future is uncertain. But still, if it was with the parents concept it would be a different scenario, and they will not use the word "steal" to address the issue. stealing to invest in cryptocurrency is risky and very shameful and it will bring disgrace to his family.
Lessons learned: never be a teacher who steals money for crypto.The right word to this, is don't be someone(not to be a teacher) that steals money or connives people to invest in Bitcoin for your selfish gains. Bitcoin investment is not what to deceive someone on, to later invest in pump and dump schemes like memecoins, to expect overnight fortunes. That investment will end up becoming a flop investment, and you won't have a reasonable explanation for how you dupe people of their money