The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office has launched a formal joint investigation unit that exclusively tackles crypto-related crimes and fraud cases.
According to a report by Aju News, the department is named the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office-run Joint Investigation Unit or JIU for Virtual Asset Crimes.
The unit will include 35 full-time employees with experience dealing with crypto crimes in South Korea, consisting mainly of prosecutors and financial regulators from the the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service. The unit will be led by Chief Prosecutor Park Geon-wook and two deputy chief prosecutors.
The body was originally formed as a temporary task force in 2023, meant to handle the spike in crypto-related fraud cases. However, as the number of cases have only increased significantly South Korea in the past two years, alongside the rise of crypto adoption in the country, the District Prosecutors’ Office decided to transform the task force into a formal joint investigation department.
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Since it was formed in July 2023, the South Korean crypto crime taskforce has indicted 74 people and arrested 25 individuals linked to unfair trade practices such as coin fraud, market manipulation and other illicit activities related to crypto.
“As virtual asset-related crime methods become more sophisticated, intelligent, and international, we will establish an effective crime response system through close cooperation with relevant organizations,” said the prosecution official at the launching ceremony.
Last December, the task force arrested the CEO of a coin management company who made 7 billion won ($4.8 million) in illicit profits through crypto price manipulation. The unit also arrested a famous shaman named Jeon Seong-bae and tracked the funds of a scam coin called “Queen B.”
As previously reported by crypto.news, a Chinese man was reportedly killed during a cryptocurrency transaction in Jeju, South Korea. Jeju West Police Station announced that the suspects allegedly fled with 85 million won ($63,500) belonging to the victim.
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