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Tim Alper

Author

Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked…

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Last updated: 

July 23, 2025

Park Gyuri, a founding member of the K-pop girl group Kara, is facing fresh crypto allegations, days after telling a court she did not participate in her ex-lover’s alleged altcoin fraud operations.

The case revolves around a low-cap art-themed altcoin named Pica Coin and its alleged mastermind Song Ja-ho, Park’s ex-boyfriend.

At the time of the launch, Park was reportedly listed as Pica’s Chief Communications Officer and Advisor.

Park Gyuri: Crypto Accusations Continue

Last week, prosecutors summoned Park as a witness in the Song fraud case. She told a branch of the Seoul Southern District Court that she had played no part in any illegal crypto schemes or efforts to manipulate token prices.

She claimed that she thought Pica was an above-board art-technology startup. Park also claimed that she worked as a salaried worker at Pica “for a year as a curator and publicity manager, planning and promoting exhibitions for artists.” The K-pop star added:

“I knew nothing about cryptoassets. And I did not want any photos of me to feature in the Pica Coin white paper. I have never participated in or benefited from illegal coin operations. […] I have never made any profit from [this coin].”

‘I Sold My BTC to Buy Altcoin,’ Star Claims

Furthermore, Park claimed that she had invested 60 million won (currently $43,566) in Pica Coin in April 2021.

She said that she raised the funds for the purchase by selling her personal Bitcoin (BTC) holdings.

But the former Kara member said she “lost everything” when the Pica Coin was delisted from the Upbit crypto exchange two months later, in June 2021.

However, the Pica Coin CEO Seong Hae-joong told the media outlet iMBC that Park’s claims were untrue. Seong said that Song “directly compensated her with 60 million won in cash in December of the same year, acting out of pity for her.”

This was despite the fact that Park and Song reportedly broke up in September 2021. Seung provided the media outlet with screenshots of an alleged conversation about the “compensation” between Park and Song on KakaoTalk.

The screenshots appear to show Park asking Song when exactly he would send her the money on December 8, 2021. To this, he appears to respond: “Before the end of the month.”

Park also appears to “correct” Song’s intention to send 50 million, saying: “It wasn’t 50 million, but actually 60 million.”

Prosecutors Launched Legal Case in 2023

Seong also stated that Park’s claims that she had never made any profit from crypto were “untrue.” He asserted that Park’s assertions were “one-sided” and “lacked credulity.”

The media outlet said that it had contacted Park’s talent agency Big Boss Entertainment with multiple unsuccessful requests for comment.

However, the newspaper Maeil Kyungjae quoted Park’s representatives as stating: “We cannot comment on matters connected to Ms. Park’s private life.”

Park has previously expressed her exasperation with the case on her social media pages, asking rhetorically why she is not being allowed to move on from her involvement with Pica.

Police arrested Song in 2023 on charges of fraud and breach of trust. Prosecutors have accused him of soliciting investments for artworks he did not own.

Officials also think Song may have also manipulated Pica Coin prices to his own advantage.

Park debuted with Kara in 2007, with the group disbanding in 2016. Kara reformed in 2022 and is currently touring Asia, with performances slated for Yokohama, Japan, and Macau in August.

A letter submitted this morning by the defense of Samourai wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and William Ronergan Hill revealed that the Southern District of New York (SDNY) had suppressed clear evidence in criminal cases.

According to the filing, the prosecution had consulted Fincen about the feasibility of bringing in unauthorized money transmission fees for non-mandatory services before the developer charged them.

“Mixers like Samourai, who own private keys and do not detain cryptocurrency, strongly suggest that Samourai is not acting as an MSB,” Finsen told prosecutors.

In internal communications, the prosecutor says it could lead to fees based on “functional controls” of the code, perhaps referring to Samourai’s control over the user interface and the coin join server of the Samourai wallet. Prosecutors said such arguments were “never addressed in the guidance,” and admitted that “that could be a difficult argument.”

Communication between Fincen and SDNY was revealed following the so-called Brady request, ordering the government to hand over evidence that could exonerate the accused developer.

The government will need to hand over the evidence exempted to the defense two weeks after filing the latest indictment. The later disclosure of such highly relevant material may mislead the courts, arguing that the letters have an impact on both the bail requirements imposed on the developer and the tendency of judges to refuse to file a motion for rejection.

The defense is currently seeking a hearing to determine potential remedies for SDNY’s actions, including the dismissal of the charges.

“It’s hard to imagine a clear example of “prosecutorial regulation” than what we have here,” said the defense, referring to the recent Blache memo. “The relevant regulators telling prosecutors that Samourai’s wallets are not gold senders have indicted the same general guidance that Rodriguez and Hill relied on to guide their actions, and prosecutors have stepped forward and run a money services business that is not exempt anyway.”

Fincen’s attitude towards non-lawful service providers shared with SDNY echoes 2019 guidance. This states that “cryptocurrency wallet providers will be classified as transmitters if the host is completely independent of their value (contractually mandated to access value only from the owner.”

Advocacy groups and legal scholars have long argued that the prosecution of Samourai wallet developers and the prosecution of tornado cash developers Roman Storm and Rome Semenov are clear violations of Finsen guidance.

Samourai’s Brady Request was successful, but a similar request was rejected last year to try to disclose to the government that it contains “materials that have not yet been produced from materials received from OFAC and Fincen (substantial communications with these agencies).

As Storm points out in X, he was arrested the same day he consulted the prosecutor of Samourai Wallet about the feasibility of unauthorized money transmission fees, making it seem that SDNY is even more aware of the spread of that charge throughout Storm’s prosecution.

“Fincen explicitly informed SDNY prosecutors that no remittance license is required for Samourai Wallet’s non-mandatory design, but the DOJ has indicted the developer. “The prosecutor exemplifies regulations through criminal prosecution, directly opposes the directions of the AG Blanche Deputy Bureau, and undermines the Trump administration’s crypto policy.”

“Brady Violation,” wrote JW Verret, an anti-money laundering expert, in X.

“The fact that the prosecutor attempted to withhold this information from the defense is a serious ethical violation and could lead to a case,” Verret told Bitcoin Magazine. “That’s if the DOJ doesn’t drop it all together, given that the main justice effectively ordered such cases to be removed.”

“Like we said,” writes Peter Van Valkenburgh of Conicenter in X.

“If they are not a remittance under Fincen’s guidance, the defense said in the letter.

This is a guest post by L0LA L33TZ. The opinions expressed are entirely unique and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.