South Korean Prosecutors Arrest Top Crypto Trader Over New ‘Scam Coin’ Case

South Korean prosecutors have arrested and charged Jon Bur Kim (real name: Park), a crypto market maker, with new ‘scam coin’ charges.

Park was free on bail while he was being charged with running a $60 million cryptocurrency scam based on a token called Podo Coin.

New Crypto Trader Arrest Warrant for Scam Coin

A famous South Korean newspaper claims that another case connected to Park is under investigation by the Joint Investigation Unit for Virtual Asset Crimes (JIU), which is part of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office.

Police believe Park played a part in listing and giving out Artube (ATT), a so-called “scam coin.”

They believe Park and his friends use the token to cheat investors out of a total of 260 billion won, which is about $179.6 million.

A lot of well-known cryptocurrency exchanges, like a known South Korean crypto exchange (Coinone) in South Korea, have listed ATT in the past. But recently, both the number of trades and the value of ATT coins have dropped sharply.

After going public, ATT’s prices initially went through the roof. Soon after, prices fell, and in early February of last year, the Seoul-based exchange labelled ATT as a coin of concern for the following reasons:

Stopping all official community activities

Inactivity by notable companies and services

Neglect to let investors know about important mid- to long-term business plans.

Neglect to provide timely related material.

EconomyBloc reported last year that this South Korean exchange platform asked the “project team” for help but wasn’t happy with the developers’ answer.

On February 20, the Seoul-based exchange announced that it would end trading support for ATT to protect investors, with transactions stopping in early March and withdrawals in April.

In early March, support for transactions ended. A month later, support for withdrawals ended as well.

Prosecutors also Arrested the CEO

Prosecutors further claim they have arrested someone with the last name Moon, allegedly the Artube operator’s CEO.

Officials said that Moon and Park “earned criminal profits through false public disclosures and price manipulation” soon after getting listed on a South Korean exchange platform in March 2021.

As part of their ongoing investigation, prosecutors said that Park also made money by changing the prices of Podo Coins.

Park was released on bail on January 22 of this year. But the Seoul Southern District Court ordered that Park and Moon must both go to jail. The judge in charge said:

“They are facing serious criminal charges, and there is a possibility that they will try to hide evidence and leave the country,” the in-charge judge said.

Podo Coin Investigation

The JIU has seized Park’s assets in the past, which included a large collection of imported supercars.

Source: Maeil Kyungjae/Screenshot

Police have been looking into Park for a long time. The South Korean Coast Guard caught him on a boat as he tried to escape to China in late December 2023.

Coastguards stopped the fishing boat as it tried to sail to China. They did not realize that Park was on board at that time.

After officials were able to get the boat into Mokpo harbor, police boarded it and arrested Park, the captain, and another middleman on charges of smuggling.