South Korea Makes First DEX Rug Pull Arrest Over CATFI Scam!

South Korean prosecutors have charged a criminal group for manipulating the price of CATFI, a Solana-based meme coin, in what marks the country's first arrest and prosecution tied to a decentralized exchange rug pull. The group allegedly generated KRW 400 million (approximately $260,000) in illegal profits while inflicting KRW 900 million in losses on 256 investors.

The main suspect, identified by the surname Park, operated under the social media persona "Eth Father," posing as an independent influencer to falsely promote CATFI before executing the rug pull. The case is notable not just for the human cost — 256 retail investors wiped — but for the legal precedent it sets: South Korea's enforcement apparatus has now demonstrated it can identify, arrest, and prosecute actors behind pseudonymous DEX-based fraud schemes.