▲ Logo and signage of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency
Over 20 individuals from two separate organizations have been apprehended by police and referred to the prosecution for laundering proceeds from phishing crimes using cryptocurrency.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Division announced today (June 16) that it has referred nine individuals, including a Chinese national in his 40s identified as A, to the prosecution on charges including violations of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information.
Among them, two individuals, including A, are currently being held in custody.
A and his accomplices are accused of laundering criminal proceeds for a Cambodia-based phishing organization between February 2024 and April of last year, acting under the instructions of a ringleader in his 20s identified as Y.
Investigations revealed that they purchased "Tether," a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency, on 24,500 occasions and laundered or illegally exchanged the funds by transferring them between domestic and international cryptocurrency exchanges.
The total amount illegally exchanged through this process reached approximately 14 billion won.
The phishing organization reused a portion of the laundered money as bait for investment fraud, while A and his group pocketed 650 million won in commissions.
The police have frozen the commission funds and issued an Interpol Red Notice for the ringleader, Y, who is currently residing in Cambodia.
Separately, the police also referred 14 individuals to the prosecution who operated as members of a Cambodia-based romance scam ring and personally laundered and illegally exchanged criminal proceeds.
They are accused of purchasing Tether with 2.8 billion won in criminal proceeds between September 2024 and March of last year, then transferring it to overseas exchanges to launder it into local currency.
Additionally, the police referred 33 individuals to the prosecution for conducting unregistered currency exchange operations worth 6.3 billion won targeting foreign tourists.
These individuals are accused of using foreign currency deposited by customers to purchase Tether on overseas exchanges, which was then transferred back to domestic exchanges to be converted into Korean won.
The police emphasized, "Acting as an agent for others' virtual asset transactions or using virtual assets for currency exchange is subject to punishment, so caution is required," adding, "We will conduct thorough investigations to eradicate crimes that exploit virtual assets."
▲ Modus operandi
(Photo courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.