Prosecutors' Investigation TF Begins Recovery Work
Tracking Cash and Cryptocurrency
Estimated Criminal Proceeds of Jo Joo-bin Over 10 Billion Won
2018 Supreme Court Recognized Cryptocurrency Crime Proceeds Ruling
Jo Joo-bin, the main perpetrator of the Nth Room case involving the production and sale of illegal sexual exploitation videos on Telegram, is heading to a transport vehicle on the morning of the 25th at Jongno Police Station in Seoul to be transferred to the prosecution. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Attention is focused not only on the punishment of Jo Joo-bin (24) but also on the investigation and recovery of his criminal proceeds.
According to the prosecution on the 26th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Digital Sex Crime Special Investigation Task Force, which is in charge of this case, began investigating Jo on the same day and also started the process of recovering criminal proceeds. A prosecution official told reporters, "We need to review the profit-related records after receiving materials from the police," adding, "Various methods such as account tracing will be used."
The profits Jo earned from operating the "Baksa Bang" (Doctor's Room) are estimated to exceed 10 billion KRW, including cash and virtual currencies. Jo operated Baksa Bang in three stages: Stage 1 (entry fee 200,000 to 250,000 KRW), Stage 2 (700,000 KRW), and Stage 3 (1,500,000 KRW). The number of users identified by the investigation authorities so far is about 10,000.
Since the exact number of users per room is unclear, various estimated figures calculated arbitrarily have been presented among investigators and experts. Multiplying the median usage fee of 850,000 KRW by the number of users simply estimates the profit at about 8.5 billion KRW. Professor Lee Soo-jung of the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" and predicted that the profit would exceed 10 billion KRW using this calculation method. The police found 130 million KRW in cash at Jo's residence and estimate that he earned about 3.2 billion KRW solely through virtual currency.
Jo received entry fees for the Telegram chat rooms in a virtual currency called "Monero." Monero is known as a "dark coin" because its transaction records are not traceable. When receiving cash, it is known that Jo had buyers leave money in secluded places and then sent staff to retrieve it.
The prosecution plans to proceed with the process of recovering the criminal proceeds to the state as soon as the scale of Jo's criminal proceeds is identified.
A Supreme Court ruling from May 2018, which recognizes virtual currency obtained through crime as criminal proceeds subject to confiscation, is expected to apply in Jo's case. At that time, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Min Yoo-sook) upheld the original ruling to confiscate 191 bitcoins obtained as criminal proceeds in the appeal trial of Ahn Mo (33), who was charged with operating an illegal pornography site. This was the Supreme Court's first ruling to order the confiscation of virtual currency.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
