A Virginia man convicted of stealing more than $2.5m from investors concealed millions of dollars in cryptocurrency before filing for bankruptcy and declaring that he owned only 34 cents in financial assets, US prosecutors say.
Jihoon Park, 52, of Chantilly, was convicted by a federal jury in Alexandria on 8 September of defrauding investors and the US Bankruptcy Court. The US Department of Justice said he transferred more than $2.5m from several victims to himself and used the money to buy a house and cryptocurrency.
Park built trust with the victims through personal relationships and his previous connection to a large national financial institution. He offered what he described as safe investments with high returns, but prosecutors said he diverted the funds for his own benefit.
After one investor brought legal action against him, Park transferred assets to his wife, prosecutors alleged. He later concealed cryptocurrency worth millions of dollars while seeking protection under bankruptcy law. His bankruptcy documents listed financial assets of only $0.34 and stated that he did not own cryptocurrency.
Prosecutors said the declarations were intended to prevent victims from recovering money owed to them.
Further details about one investment emerged in an August 2025 opinion from the bankruptcy court. The court recorded as undisputed at that stage that an investor gave Park a $300,000 cheque in August 2024. The following month, Park bought a house in Chantilly for about $1.2m, making a $700,000 down payment that included money from the investor.
Park’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case began on 14 January 2025 in the Eastern District of Virginia. A trustee later sought to recover the down payment or reverse the transfer of the property, while the investor attempted to establish an interest in the house.
Chief US Bankruptcy Judge Brian F. Kenney rejected that claim, ruling that the trustee’s powers to challenge and avoid the transaction took precedence. The court also noted that Park had waived his bankruptcy discharge, which would normally release a debtor from personal liability for eligible debts.
Park was found guilty of three counts of wire fraud and two counts of bankruptcy fraud. Each wire fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while each bankruptcy fraud charge carries a maximum of five years. Those are statutory limits; the eventual sentence will be decided by the judge after considering federal sentencing guidelines and other legal factors.
Park is due to be sentenced on 10 December.
The case is part of a series of prosecutions involving alleged investment fraud linked to cryptocurrency and claims of sophisticated trading systems or supposedly low-risk returns. In August, a verdict involving the Block Bits cryptocurrency fund centred on an automated trading system that prosecutors said did not exist.
Another federal case announced in July alleged that a crypto investor caused losses of about $20m after persuading victims to hand over money and digital assets. Prosecutors said the funds were moved through financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges to conceal who owned them and how they were transferred.
Cryptocurrency holdings have also featured in insolvency cases where creditors remain unpaid. Dutch prosecutors recently raised $2.55m by liquidating cryptocurrency connected to the bankrupt trading platform Knaken, leaving thousands of customers seeking repayment through the bankruptcy estate.
Authorities warn that promises of unusually high returns with little apparent risk are among the common warning signs of cryptocurrency fraud. The US Justice Department also said a joint public-private operation had disrupted more than 1.4 million accounts linked to a Southeast Asian scam operation.
