A federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia convicted Jihoon Park on September 8 on three counts of wire fraud and two counts of bankruptcy fraud. Park, 52, of Chantilly, Virginia, ran a scheme that defrauded multiple investors of more than $2.5 million.
Prosecutors said Park exploited personal relationships and his prior association with a large national financial institution to gain investors' trust. He convinced victims to provide money for investing purposes, promising their funds would be safe and generate high returns. According to the Justice Department, Park made no such investments and instead misappropriated the stolen funds for personal use.
Use of Stolen Funds
Park used the fraudulently obtained money to purchase a house in Chantilly for approximately $1.2 million, with a down payment of $700,000 that included funds from victims. He also used stolen money to purchase cryptocurrency.
Concealment and Bankruptcy
When one victim filed a lawsuit against Park, he responded by transferring assets to his wife's name and concealing millions of dollars in cryptocurrency holdings. Park subsequently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in January 2025 in the Eastern District of Virginia.
In his bankruptcy filing, Park claimed to have only $0.34 in financial assets and denied owning any cryptocurrency. Court records show that one investor had given Park a $300,000 check in August 2024, which Park used toward the house purchase the following month.
A bankruptcy trustee attempted to recover the down payment or reverse the property transfer. Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian F. Kenney ruled in favor of the trustee's authority to pursue recovery. Park also surrendered his right to a bankruptcy discharge, which typically protects debtors from personal repayment obligations on certain debts.
Sentencing and Investigation
Park faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each wire fraud count and up to five years on each bankruptcy fraud count. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10, 2026. The FBI's Washington Field Office investigated the case, with prosecution handled by trial attorneys from the Justice Department's Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
