Why Are All These South Korean Celebrities Tied Up in a Crypto Scam?

9 months ago 5

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Investors are accusing several South Korean celebrities of involvement in a crypto fraud scheme as users struggle to withdraw funds.

The National Police Agency is investigating Winnerz, a blockchain sports platform, for alleged fraud.

South Korean Influencers Involved In Alleged Crypto Scam

According to a recent report, Winnerz is accused of bringing celebrities on board to increase the credibility and legitimacy of the project to bring more investors on board.

However, Winnerz was mainly utilizing YouTube celebrities who were able to market the project to a large audience. However, nearly all the celebrities accused have vehemently denied involvement with the project.

Meanwhile, Kim Won-hoon and Cho Jin-se, hosts of the YouTube channel Shortbox with 2.85 million subscribers, publicly distanced themselves from the project.

“We want to make it clear that there have been no business or financial discussions or transactions with Choi Seung-jung and other relevant parties mentioned concerning controversies surrounding Winnerz.”

Meanwhile, popular Korean comedian Na Sun-uk was accused of being linked to the crypto project. This came after he was allegedly spotted at the Winnerz end-of-year Christmas party.

Na told his YouTube channel that he denies associating with the Winnerz project.

“Both meetings were brief dining occasions. I have no affiliation with Winnerz whatsoever, and I want to clarify that I have never engaged in any coin investments.”

However, South Korean authorities are cracking down hard on crypto scams within the country.

South Korean Authorities Crack Down on Crypto Fraud

Recently, BeInCrypto reported that South Korea has sentenced a crypto exchange CEO to several years in jail for crypto fraud.

On February 7, Jinwook Shin, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Bitsonic, received a seven-year prison sentence for manipulating the crypto market.

Read more: Crypto Social Media Scams: How to Stay Safe

The accusations were for inflating the exchange’s operating profit. This resulted in the extraction of over 10 billion from users, equivalent to roughly $7.5 million.

Meanwhile, prosecutors have released several crypto traders accused of exploiting the price gap between local crypto exchanges and global exchanges, known as the Kimchi premium.

They allegedly profited $3.2 billion from the 3% to 5% price difference.