▲ Business briefing session of illegal multi-level sales organization


An organization that sold 130 billion won worth of coins in an illegal multi-step method was caught taking advantage of the cryptocurrency investment craze.



The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced today (24th) that they had criminally charged eight people, including the CEO of a coin sales company, on charges of recruiting 30,000 members from across the country from February to July last year and taking unfair profits of 130 billion won.



The organization discovered this time has 163 centers and 15 branches across the country, including Seoul, and held a briefing session mainly for the elderly in their 60s, retirees, and housewives, and recruited 3396 members.



Then, it was found that 1.2 million won per account was deposited as an investment in the name of coin purchase, with the principal and high profit guarantee.



They deceive investors by making false promotional videos as if the coin was an investment product linked to the 'BTS Discover Pass' and Pororo content business, a free pass for Seoul tourism issued by the Seoul Tourism Organization as a model for BTS. was investigated.



In addition, we used a multi-stage method of paying allowances according to membership registration performance, and there were cases in which sub-members were recruited in as many as 29 stages.



According to the Judicial Police Team, it was found that the suspects delayed payment of benefits to members and eventually shut down the computer system and did not pay a total of 81 billion won in benefits.



The coin issued to the members was listed on the International Coin Exchange in the Philippines, but the transaction did not actually take place, and the coin price became 0 won, causing damage, the Judicial Police said.



Victims invested between 1.2 million won and 2.6 billion won per person by mobilizing loans, jeonse funds, and credit card debt, and 139 people invested hundreds of millions of won each.



The Judicial Police Corps received a report from a citizen last year and arrested the suspects after seven months of investigation.



Kang Ok-hyeon, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Department, said, "If you receive coin investment using famous content and introduce them to others, you will receive a bonus or be deceived that you can earn a lot of money in the future. Please report it."



(Photo = provided by Seoul City, Yonhap News)