'Coin Lobby' FurEver Case Transferred to Central District Prosecutors' Office to Be Handled by Southern District Prosecutors' Office

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office's Joint Investigation Team for Virtual Asset Crimes (Head Lee Jeong-ryeol) will take over the case of the CEO of Uninetwork, the issuer of the Pureever coin, who was transferred from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on suspicion of coin lobbying. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, which is already investigating allegations of market manipulation related to Pureever coin, plans to examine whether there were any issues during the listing process.

Joint Investigation Unit for Virtual Asset Crimes. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

A representative from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office told reporters on the afternoon of the 12th, "The Pureever case, which was transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, is now being investigated by the Southern District Prosecutors' Office's Joint Investigation Team for Virtual Asset Crimes." Pureever is a coin related to air purifiers that gained attention as it was linked to the kidnapping and murder case in Gangnam last March. Earlier, the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency transferred Lee, the CEO of Uninetwork, the issuer of Pureever coin, to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office without detention on the 30th of last month on charges of bribery and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

According to the police, Lee is suspected of offering coins to public officials and others along with requests for convenience in promotion when listing Pureever, an air purifier-related coin, on the cryptocurrency exchange Coinone in November 2020. Park, a former Ministry of the Interior and Safety official who was in charge of fine dust-related work, was transferred without detention on charges of bribery and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act for handing over official documents related to fine dust policies to Uninetwork and receiving coins as a quid pro quo. Jeong, the chairman of the Korea BCP Association, a disaster safety education and certification organization, was also handed over to the prosecution on charges of bribery and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act for certifying Pureever-related products together with Lee to maintain the listing and price of Pureever and then giving coins to Park.

The prosecution, which is already investigating allegations of market manipulation (MM, Market Making) related to Pureever coin, plans to look into whether there were any problems during the listing process in the case it has received. In the interim investigation results announced in April regarding listing corruption at coin exchanges and market manipulation, the prosecution analyzed that "despite the poor financial condition of the issuing foundation, Pureever coin was listed exclusively on the exchange, and immediately after listing, many investors suffered losses due to high-price selling (Pump and Dump) through MM." A prosecution official stated, "It is more efficient and helpful for the investigation to have the Joint Investigation Team for Virtual Assets handle the Pureever coin case rather than having separate investigations by each district prosecutor's office."

The case involving allegations of large-scale coin holdings by independent lawmaker Kim Nam-guk is currently being handled by the Criminal Division 6, which continues the investigation without transferring it to the Joint Investigation Team for Virtual Assets. A prosecution official said, "Depending on future developments, there may be parts that need to be viewed differently, but under the current circumstances, it is appropriate for the Criminal Division 6 to continue handling it."

Meanwhile, the prosecution continues its investigations related to the three major funds (Optimus, Lime, Discovery). Regarding the relatively slow progress in the Optimus fund investigation, the prosecution said, "We have been reviewing the Optimus fund investigation details since receiving them from the Central District Prosecutors' Office earlier this year," adding, "It would be ideal if all cases proceeded at the same pace, but it is understood that the speed varies from case to case."

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