TLDR
- A federal jury convicted Jihoon Park, 52, of Chantilly, Virginia, on three counts of wire fraud and two counts of bankruptcy fraud.
- Park stole more than $2.5 million from investors who trusted him with their savings and retirement money.
- He used stolen funds to buy a house and cryptocurrency for himself.
- Park later hid his crypto holdings and claimed only $0.34 in assets during bankruptcy proceedings.
- He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10, 2026, and faces up to 20 years in prison.
A federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia convicted Jihoon Park on September 8 for running a fraud scheme against investors and a U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Park, 52, is from Chantilly, Virginia.
Prosecutors said Park convinced people in his community to hand over their money for investing. He used personal relationships and his past ties to a large national financial institution to build trust with victims.
Park told investors their money would be safe and would earn high returns. According to the Justice Department, none of that was true.
Instead, Park took more than $2.5 million from multiple victims and used it for himself. He spent the stolen funds on a house and on cryptocurrency purchases.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said Park’s actions caused financial harm to families who trusted him with their life savings and retirement funds.
How the Fraud Was Uncovered
The scheme started to unravel after one victim filed a lawsuit against Park. In response, Park moved assets to his wife’s name.
He also hid millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency before filing for bankruptcy protection. Prosecutors said this was done to avoid repaying the people he had defrauded.
When Park filed his bankruptcy paperwork, he claimed to have only $0.34 in financial assets. He also denied owning any cryptocurrency at all.
Court records show that one investor gave Park a $300,000 check in August 2024. The next month, Park bought a house in Chantilly for about $1.2 million, using a $700,000 down payment that included part of that investor’s money.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
Park’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case began in January 2025 in the Eastern District of Virginia. A bankruptcy trustee later tried to recover the down payment or reverse the property transfer.
The investor who gave Park the $300,000 also tried to claim an interest in the house. Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian F. Kenney ruled against that claim, saying the trustee’s authority to recover the funds came first.
Court records also show Park gave up his right to a bankruptcy discharge. That step usually protects a debtor from having to personally repay certain debts.
The jury convicted Park on three counts of wire fraud and two counts of bankruptcy fraud. Each wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Each bankruptcy fraud count carries a maximum sentence of five years. A judge will decide the final sentence after reviewing federal sentencing guidelines.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case. Trial attorneys from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division are prosecuting it, with help from federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Park is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10, 2026.
