South Korea Cracks Down on CatFi Rugpull: First-Ever Crypto Fraud Case Under New Investor Protection Law

South Korean authorities tracked suspects for months after CatFi case was initially dismissed despite early blockchain sleuth reports and evidence.

South Korean prosecutors have filed charges against a group of individuals linked to a Solana-based meme coin project called CatFi, following allegations that the token was used in a coordinated rugpull scheme after attracting investor funds.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office confirmed in its Wednesday statement that five individuals are now facing charges in connection with the case, including two main suspects who have been placed in custody and three others who have been indicted without detention.

Influencer Ruse, Fake Lockups

Investigators say the group created and launched CatFi in early 2025 through the Solana meme coin platform Pump.fun. It managed to draw in investors soon after listing, only to abandon the project once enough money had entered the token. Prosecutors highlighted that the case is legally significant because it is the first time the country’s Virtual Asset User Protection Act has been used to prosecute a rug pull under fraudulent and unfair trading provisions. Interestingly, it is also the first known prosecution involving a crypto crime carried out through a decentralized exchange, which had previously remained largely outside regulatory reach.

According to the findings, the suspects did not rely solely on token mechanics to generate interest but allegedly built a misleading promotional ecosystem around the project. One of the accused reportedly presented himself online as an independent crypto influencer, using that identity to push investment interest toward CatFi. Meanwhile, another handled official project communications, where follower numbers were artificially inflated, and announcements were posted claiming fake token lock-up arrangements intended to suggest stability.

Authorities further allege that the group circulated tokens across multiple wallets and carried out wash trading activity to disguise their control over supply and to create the appearance of genuine market demand. In the hours following launch, CatFi’s price reportedly surged dramatically, increasing by roughly 1,001 times within a 26-hour window, during which about 6,000 investors bought into the token.

Prosecutors said that 256 of these investors later reported total losses amounting to around 900 million Korean won, which is roughly equivalent to $600,000, while the suspects are believed to have secured profits exceeding 400 million won. The scheme had initially drawn attention from online blockchain analysts who traced wallet activity and publicly identified those involved, but police at the time closed the case after the suspects claimed they had been victims of hacking.

The matter was later escalated when the Financial Services Commission referred it to prosecutors, which ultimately led to a joint investigation involving a dedicated crypto crime unit as well as financial and tax authorities, that tracked down the suspects, including one individual who had evaded capture for three months using disguises.

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Arrests followed on May 11 for two suspects, while the remaining three were detained later on Wednesday.

High User Activity Despite Allegations

Pump.fun has come under intense scrutiny for enabling large-scale speculative token activity on Solana, where most newly created meme coins are linked to scams like rug pulls and pump-and-dump schemes. The platform’s ease of token creation and low transaction costs drove rapid trading.

Despite this, the meme coin launchpad emerged as one of the Solana ecosystem’s top revenue-generating applications in 2025. In fact, it was one of seven Solana apps that earned over $100 million in revenue during the year.