Park Gyuri, a member of the group Kara, appeared as a witness in the trial of her ex-boyfriend, Mr. Song, the CEO of Company P, who is accused of fraud. She clarified that while she participated in some aspects of the business, she had no involvement in illegal coin operations or market manipulation.
On the afternoon of the 16th, Park Gyuri attended the trial regarding the Picacoin case at the Seoul Southern District Court, where she was questioned for about three hours.
During the session, Park Gyuri stated, "The Picaproject started in early 2020 based on a gallery business. At that time, I had not many jobs as a celebrity, and I liked art, so I believed it was a normal art exhibition and group purchase business and started working on it."
In fact, Park Gyuri explained that she worked for the Picaproject for a year as a curator and PR manager, planning and promoting exhibitions with artists like Cho Young-nam and Lim Ha-ryong. She received a salary of about 40.67 million won and signed a contract regarding the use of her likeness for promotional purposes. Later, when Song Ja-ho started the Picacoin business, Park Gyuri's name was included in the white paper as the Chief Communications Officer (CCO) and advisor of Picacoin.
Regarding this, Park Gyuri said, "I knew nothing about virtual assets, and I did not want my photo to be included in the Picatoken white paper."
She emphasized, "I have never participated in or benefited from any illegal coin business," adding, "Regarding coin deposits and withdrawals, I only deposited and returned or transferred them immediately at Song Ja-ho's request; I never profited from coins."
In particular, she revealed in court that in April 2021, she sold Bitcoin she owned to invest 60 million won in Picatoken, but suffered a total loss when the coin was delisted two months later in June 2021.
Park Gyuri also mentioned the Lee brothers, Lee Hee-jin and Lee Hee-moon, who are accused of conspiring with Song Ja-ho, stating, "I met with Lee Hee-jin and his girlfriend about 3-4 times for socializing. I met Lee Hee-moon a couple more times, but he never discussed business in front of me."
Park Gyuri had been in a public relationship with Song Ja-ho since 2019 but broke up in 2021. After Song became embroiled in fraud allegations, Park Gyuri, who worked as a curator and chief PR officer for Company P, was investigated as a witness by the prosecution.
At that time, Park Gyuri's side told Maeil Business Star Today, "During the witness statement process, we clearly stated that we did not participate in any illegal activities related to the coin business and did not obtain any unfair profits," adding, "Park Gyuri has no connection to the art-related coin business but will cooperate as much as possible with the related investigation."
Song Ja-ho was indicted in July 2023 on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud), breach of trust, obstruction of business, and violation of the Capital Markets Act. He is accused of soliciting investors to invest in art pieces that were not secured and manipulating the market price of the virtual asset 'Picacoin.' He is suspected of embezzling about 33.9 billion won along with the Lee brothers.
The prosecution stated that the number of victims has reached over 14,000.
