A South Korean court has sentenced the head of an illegal cryptocurrency exchange to five years in prison for laundering $1 million using Tether's USDT in a voice phishing scam. An employee of the exchange received a two-year and eight-month sentence. The Daegu District Court highlighted the defendants' lack of effort to compensate victims, who faced severe financial hardship. The scam involved overseas criminals posing as law enforcement and family members to deceive victims into transferring funds, which were quickly converted to USDT, making recovery difficult. The court described the crimes as "heinous," emphasizing the need for regulatory action to prevent the misuse of stablecoins like USDT in such schemes. Lawmaker Jin Sung-joon has called for systematic measures to combat the growing threat of stablecoin-related foreign exchange crimes. The case underscores the increasing use of cryptocurrencies in criminal activities in South Korea, with a reported 54% rise in suspicious transactions last year.