KARA member and actress Park Gyu-ri took the stand as a witness in court regarding the 'PICA Coin investment fraud case'.
She had been involved in the business to a certain extent due to her personal relationship with Song Ja-ho, the former CEO of PICA Project, but clarified that she had no involvement in any illegal cryptocurrency operations or price manipulation.
Park appeared in court as a witness for the PICA Coin case at the Seoul Southern District Court from 2 PM on the 16th, undergoing questioning for about three hours. She stated that she began working with the PICA Project in early 2020, which was based on a gallery business, "At a time when I didn't have many jobs in the industry and had a passion for art, I believed it was a legitimate art exhibition and group purchase business."
Indeed, Park worked as a curator and head of publicity for PICA Project for a year, planning and promoting exhibitions with artists like Cho Young-nam and Lim Ha-ryong. She received a salary of approximately 40.67 million won and also signed a contract regarding the use of her portrait for promotional purposes. Later, when Song Ja-ho started the PICA Coin business, Park's name was listed in the white paper as the Chief Communications Officer (CCO) and advisor.
Regarding this, Park emphasized, "I had no knowledge of virtual assets, and I did not want my photo to be included in the PICA Token white paper. Being a celebrity, I didn't want to get involved in such matters and asked Song Ja-ho to remove it, but it was not taken down. I never participated in any illegal coin business or profited from it." She also clarified that "Most of the coin deposits and withdrawals were made upon Song Ja-ho's request, immediately returned or transferred, and I never made any profit from coins."
In particular, it was revealed in court that in April 2021, Park sold her owned Bitcoin to invest 60 million won in PICA Token, only to suffer a total loss when the coin was delisted two months later, in June 2021.
Regarding the 'Cheongdam-dong stock rich' brothers, Lee Hee-jin and Lee Hee-moon, who are accused of conspiring with Song Ja-ho, Park said, "I met with Lee Hee-jin's girlfriend and them together three or four times, but it was more of a social gathering. Since I'm the same age as Lee Hee-moon, we met a couple more times, but since I didn't know much about coins, they never discussed business in front of me."
The two, Park Gyu-ri and Song Ja-ho, ended their relationship in September 2021, following a conflict that arose when Song Ja-ho was caught drunk driving in July of that year. Later, Park was questioned by the prosecution as a reference in 2022 regarding the PICA Coin, but the prosecution concluded that there was no evidence of Park's direct involvement in the related crimes.
Previously, Song Ja-ho was brought to trial in July 2023 on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud), embezzlement, obstruction of business, and violation of the Capital Market Act. He is accused of recruiting investors for unsecured artworks and manipulating the market price of 'PICA Coin'. He is suspected of embezzling approximately 33.9 billion won with the Lee brothers. The prosecution stated that there are over 14,000 victims.
Photo=Baik Seung-Chul
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)