「Stock Market God of Cheongdam-dong」 Lee Hee-jin Transferred to Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for Suspected Cryptocurrency Fraud

BlockBeats News, January 8th, according to the Korean media News1, Lee Hee-jin, known as the "Cheongdam-dong Stock God," has been transferred from the Seoul Gangnam Police Station to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Financial Crime Investigation Division for alleged virtual asset fraud. Lee Hee-jin was previously sued by his partner, the representative of Pica Coin issuing company, for allegedly failing to pay approximately 1.88 billion Korean won in settlement as agreed upon. The plaintiff later filed an additional lawsuit claiming damages amounting to 28 billion Korean won (about 19.27 million US dollars).

Lee Hee-jin was previously imprisoned for stock manipulation fraud and served a sentence from 2016 to 2020. After being released from prison, he was alleged to be behind the scenes manipulating the issuance of projects like Pica Coin. Pica Coin was a South Korean crypto project from 2020 to 2021 that touted art fragment investment as a gimmick, claiming that investors could co-own famous artworks and earn high returns. It was listed on South Korean exchanges like Upbit but was soon exposed for suspected fraud. In June 2021, Upbit delisted Pica Coin.