Former Researcher from Moon Presidential Campaign... Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for 20 Billion Won Cryptocurrency Fraud

In charge of developing digital financial policies at Moon Jae-in presidential candidate's election camp in 2017

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] A former researcher who was in charge of financial policy development at President Moon Jae-in's campaign during the 2017 presidential election was sentenced to two years in prison by the court for leading a cryptocurrency scam worth around 20 billion won.

On the 23rd, according to the legal community, Judge Jeong Jong-geon of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 9 sentenced A (65) to two years in prison on charges of fraud and violation of the Act on the Regulation of Conducting Fund-Raising Business Without Permission, among others.

A attended several business briefings led by B, the CEO of the fake cryptocurrency 'Koalcoin' development company, and recruited 5,000 investors. It is known that they collected a total of approximately 21.27 billion won from investors.

At the briefing, A introduced Koalcoin as a cryptocurrency that is absolutely impossible to hack and certified by authorities such as the Bank of Korea and the Financial Supervisory Service. He also emphasized that Koalcoin, which has a market price of 2 won, was being sold at a 1 won discount and would soon reach 200 won.

In court, A argued, "I had an academic interest in cryptocurrency and gave a lecture on cryptocurrency, not an investment solicitation briefing," but the court did not accept this.

The court pointed out, "The defendant knew that Koalcoin could not be utilized as planned without passing strict proof and verification stages and that it had no value, yet he caused the misconception that the cryptocurrency development was completed. The amount of money defrauded was large, and the defendant's position and career were the main reasons victims decided to invest, indicating the defendant's significant contribution."

However, the court stated, "Considering that the victims invested with the intention of obtaining high short-term returns and that a considerable amount of damage appears to have been recovered, the sentence was determined accordingly."

A worked as a researcher at public institutions related to information and communication technology for a long time and was known to have been in charge of digital financial policy development at President Moon Jae-in's campaign around 2017.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.