The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office is looking into a well-known bitcoin market maker named Jon Bur Kim, also known by his last name Park, for allegedly manipulating prices and stealing about $14.5 million. Park, who is 43 years old, is accused of setting up large-scale price manipulations in the bitcoin market.
The prosecutors say that Park not only stole money but also bribed leaders at a cryptocurrency exchange that they did not name. Moreover, he is being charged with releasing a fake cryptocurrency called “Podocoin,” which investors were supposedly fooled by.
Coin King’ Faces Charges
Park became famous in the cryptocurrency world. He got a lot of followers on social media and was called “Coin King.” He often showed off his expensive lifestyle by posting pictures of expensive fast cars.
Soon, a section of the Seoul Southern District Court will question Park. This is to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him. This comes after Park tried to get to China by sea while police were looking into another suspected scam coin during a previous court case. He couldn’t get away because of the wind, so the Mokpo Coast Guard caught him. He got ten months in jail at first, but after an appeal, it was cut down to seven months.
The government is also checking to see if Park worked with a coin issuer who has not been named and is suspected of stealing $16.1 million from investors. They are said to have used a “coin listing broker” to artificially raise the prices of coins, which let them sell their assets for huge gains.
This case is part of a larger investigation into altcoin producers in South Korea. For this reason, folks are getting more worried about the rise of fake coins and well-known people working on sketchy small-cap altcoin projects. As the investigation continues, the police are still trying to figure out how involved Park really was in these alleged fraud operations.
