TLDRA Seoul court acquitted Park, a 45-year-old crypto influencer known as “Coin King Jonber Kim,” on October 15.Prosecutors said he ran a $253 million scheme involving the Podo coin and ATube tokens.Prosecutors had sought a 20-year prison sentence and the seizure of more than $14 million.The court said there was no proven link between his actions and token prices or investor purchases.Judges found the white papers deceptive, but said many buyers relied on YouTube, blogs, and friends instead.A court in Seoul has found a South Korean crypto influencer not guilty in a fraud case tied to $253 million.The man, a 45-year-old named Park, is known online as “Coin King Jonber Kim.” The Seoul Southern District Court acquitted him on October 15.Prosecutors had asked for a 20-year prison sentence. They also wanted to seize more than $14 million from his estate.What Prosecutors ClaimedProsecutors said Park was the mastermind behind two digital tokens. The tokens were called Podo coin and ATube.They argued that he made false promises to investors in both projects. They also said he manipulated the prices of the two tokens.According to prosecutors, the scheme allowed Park to take $253 million from a large group of investors. The case was one of the largest crypto fraud cases in South Korea.Park was well known on social media. He often showed off luxury cars and said he made his fortune from digital assets.The case comes as South Korea has stepped up its actions against crypto fraud. In August, the same court sentenced Jeong Sang-ho to 15 years in prison.Jeong is the former CEO of Delio, a digital asset bank that was declared insolvent in November 2024. The court found that he embezzled $49.2 million in customer assets.South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service has also started using AI tools to find price manipulation on the country’s largest crypto exchanges. The system is said to spot price changes that often appear when these schemes are carried out.Why the Court Ruled for ParkThe court said the evidence from prosecutors was not enough to convict. It ruled that prosecutors failed to show a direct link between Park’s actions and the changes in the token prices.Judges did agree that the fake proposals in the tokens’ white papers were deceptive. A white paper is a document that explains a crypto project to possible buyers.However, the court said it could not prove that these documents alone led people to buy the tokens. It looked at how the victims had made their decisions.The court found that many buyers did not rely on the white papers at all. Others gave no clear details about why they bought.“Even among the victims whose statements were confirmed, there are cases where they purchased based on blogs, Youtube, communities, or acquaintances’ introductions rather than white papers or the defendants’ materials, or where the purchasing circumstances were not revealed,” the court said.Based on this finding, the court cleared Park of the financial crime charges in the Podo coin and ATube case.The post South Korea Crypto Fraud Case: Jonber Kim Found Not Guilty appeared first on Blockonomi.