'Art Piece Fractional Investment' Pikacoin Executives' First Trial Stalls... Allegations of Market Manipulation

The first trial of the management of Pica Project, a coin issuing company accused of issuing coins by recruiting investors under the pretext of co-owning famous artworks and manipulating market prices, was postponed.

On the 6th, the 12th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Dang Woojeung) held the first hearing for Pica Project co-CEOs Sung (44) and Song (23), who were detained and indicted on charges including fraudulent unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act, fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, breach of trust, and obstruction of business. Sung’s side stated, "We have not received the evidence records," and said they would clarify whether they admit the charges at the next hearing.

Co-CEO Song’s side said, "We are also unable to review the documents," and added, "Basically, there are factual and legal issues to dispute, so we deny the charges." Song’s side said they would express their opinions on individual evidence admission after reviewing the records.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Furthermore, Song’s side stated, "There is no precedent of classifying coins traded through virtual asset exchanges as fraud, and this is the first time someone has been indicted for obstruction of business for submitting a deficient listing review document by a coin issuing company," adding, "Since legal review is expected to take considerable time, we ask for prompt access to the documents and consideration when scheduling the next hearing."

They are accused of manipulating market prices (MM·Market Making) and falsely promoting the performance of the artwork fractional investment business to inflate the price of Pica Coin, then selling it to embezzle 33.8 billion KRW. They are also charged with arbitrarily misappropriating 6.6 billion KRW from Pica Coin sales proceeds and obstructing the exchange listing review by submitting false information about distribution plans and operators at the time of the coin exchange listing application.

Additionally, they face charges of obtaining an unfair profit of 800 million KRW by falsely recording previous investment attraction achievements related to artwork fractional investment securities transactions.

The prosecution is continuing its investigation, believing that Lee Heejin, known as the "Cheongdam-dong Stock Rich," and his brother Lee Heemun are involved in the case.

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