South Korea issues arrest warrant in Delio-Haru Invest withdrawal-suspension case

South Korean prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant on Bang, a key person of interest in the investigation on withdrawal suspensions of local cryptocurrency lender Delio and investment firm Haru Invest, South Korean media outlet Digital Asset reported Wednesday.

Bang reportedly owns a majority of shares at BS Holdings, a firm that Haru Invest alleged as the root cause of the serial suspension of services. The full name of Bang remains undisclosed due to local media-privacy rules.

On June 14, 2023, Delio, which claims to have processed over a billion dollars worth of crypto in its lending and borrowing services, halted user withdrawals. Delio attributed the suspension to the abrupt deposit and withdrawal cessation at Haru Invest, a crypto investment manager that Delio worked with.   

On the same day, Haru filed a criminal complaint against BS Holdings, a consignment operator, alleging that it deceived the company by providing false management reports. Haru alleged that BS lost 350 billion Korean won ($262 million) worth of funds in the collapsed FTX exchange, according to a previous report from Digital Asset.

The South Korean police applied for an arrest warrant on Bang last week for charges of fraud and breach of trust, according to Digital Asset. Seoul prosecutors have since reportedly requested a local court to review the warrant. 

Meanwhile, customers of Delio and Haru have filed complaints to its executives, after which the prosecutors have blocked key members of Delio, Haru and BS from leaving the country. 

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office did not immediately respond to The Block’s request to confirm the reports and provide further comments.