Korea Sentences Fraud Case under the *Virtual Asset User Protection Act*: Mastermind of a Meme Coin “Rug Pull” Receives 4 Years in Prison

Odaily Planet Daily News In its first-instance ruling today, the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced a cryptocurrency influencer, identified as Park, who orchestrated a Meme coin “Rug Pull” scam, to 4 years in prison. Two accomplices were respectively sentenced to 2 years and 6 months, and 3 years in prison with 5 years of probation.

Prosecutors pointed out that the defendant issued a Meme coin via Pump.fun and used social media to spread false positive information, such as “token lock-ups.” This artificially inflated the coin’s price by approximately 1001 times within 26 hours, attracting about 6,000 investors. The group then sold off their holdings to cash out. The operation cost the gang only about 10 million won, while they illegally profited around 400 million won. (Edaily)