Haru Invest and Delio, prominent cryptocurrency lenders in South Korea, are grappling with a class-action lawsuit from investors accusing them of fraud. The plaintiffs, represented by LKB & Partners law firm, claim the suspension of withdrawal services led to significant financial losses, seeking about $39 million in damages.
A number of complaints were filed against Haru Invest and Delio, and most of them are related to the alleged fraud. As per Korea Joongang Daily, hundreds of clients have united to go after the crypto lenders who they said were responsible for their monetary losses.
The plaintiffs are being represented by LKB & Partners law firm, and they sued the executives of the companies late last week. They claimed to have lost some money when the crypto lenders suspended their withdrawal services last week.
The group’s lawyers filed the suit at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office. In the lawsuit, the accused include Lee Hyung Soo, Haru Invest’s chief executive officer, and Jung Sang Ho, CEO of Delio. The investors/clients are claiming a total of KRW50 billion or about $39 million in damages.
Seoul-based Delio and Singapore-based Haru Invest suddenly canceled withdrawal services last week. The latter explained that it made the decision to halt the said service because B&S Holdings, a consignee operator, provided them with fake management reports.
The company went on to say that it provides interest to customers in return for investments and asset management sign-ups. However, their funds dried up, and the company was left with nothing to return to clients after B&S Holdings reported a loss in asset operations. LKB & Partners said that Delio stopped the withdrawals for the same reason of “their risky investments and asset management.”
Meanwhile, Crypto News Flash reported that Delio’s CEO issued a sincere apology to their investors who trusted their crypto lending platform. He then promised to give a transparent report of the situation and look at a feasible approach to recover the investments.