Key takeaways:
- An alleged cryptocurrency scandal involving numerous well-known celebrities and YouTubers and the marketing of a fraudulent scheme has impacted South Korea.
- The National Police Agency was notified of the program, which had previously been disclosed to the National Civil Service.
An alleged cryptocurrency scandal involving numerous well-known celebrities and YouTubers and the marketing of a fraudulent scheme has impacted South Korea.
The South Korean blockchain sports platform Winnerz, which manages a number of enterprises, including the issuing of cryptocurrencies, is allegedly involved in a coin scam, according to a claim that was published in The Korea Herald.
The purported scam was discovered as a result of complaints from unidentified investors who claimed the business was creating phony cryptocurrency, collecting payments, and stopping investors from withdrawing their capital.
On February 5, the National Police Agency was notified of the program, which had previously been disclosed to the National Civil Service.
Winnerz is charged with using well-known celebrities and YouTubers to promote its fraudulent scheme, with the intention of having them either purchase the coins outright or help find new investors in exchange for a commission.
After fans discovered images of celebrities, including comedian Na Sun-uk, at Winnerz’s year-end celebration, rumors about celebrities’ possible participation with the company began to circulate.
Choi Seung-Jung, a prominent Winnerz representative whose images with celebrities caused controversy, has been implicated in a number of cryptocurrency token scams, such as the TYP and GDG coin scams.
Celebrity endorsements of fraudulent projects are not unique to Korea or the cryptocurrency industry; this is a long-standing and widely used strategy. Athletes like Floyd Mayweather and Kim Kardashian have faced legal action and financial penalties for endorsing deceptive cryptocurrency ventures.
Most celebrities who have been charged with endorsing or participating in Winnerz have refuted any affiliation with the company. Others, though, have also acknowledged that they made investments in the purportedly bogus cryptocurrency.
Popular YouTubers Kim Won-hoon and Cho Jin-se, together with Sun-uk, denied having any financial or other connection to the contentious project. They stated that other personal obligations prevented them from attending the function.
After users discovered that Oh Byeong-min was listed as one of the company’s directors, the well-known Korean YouTuber with two million subscribers disclosed that he had contributed to the Winnerz initiative.
The YouTuber also declared his resignation, saying he had ceased working on any projects with Winnerz and had no plans to work with them again because of the continuous controversy surrounding the project.
Enhancing anti-money laundering procedures and protecting the Korean market from illicit transactions are the two main objectives of the FIU’s “2024 work plan.” As part of its plan, FIU evaluates exchanges for potential money laundering threats, their user safety features, and domestic market operational capacities.
