'1 Year Since Launch' Prosecution Virtual Asset Joint Unit Seizes 141 Billion KRW... Prosecutor General Announces "Formal Institutionalization Underway"

The Joint Investigation Unit on Virtual Assets (Joint Unit), established at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, which focuses on financial crimes, has indicted 40 individuals and seized or confiscated approximately 141 billion KRW over the past year.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok received a report on the investigation results and future operational plans from Shin Eung-seok, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, and Park Geon-wook, Head of the Virtual Asset Crime Joint Unit, on the morning of the 5th.

Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok (right) is touring the investigation team's office after the plaque ceremony at the launch ceremony of the Joint Investigation Team on Virtual Assets held at the Southern District Prosecutors' Office in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, on July 26, 2023. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The Joint Unit was first launched on July 26 last year to protect participants in the virtual asset market, which had been vulnerable to various crimes due to insufficient laws and regulations, and to create a sound virtual asset market environment. It is composed of about 30 experts from seven related agencies, including the prosecution, Financial Supervisory Service, Financial Intelligence Unit, Korea Exchange, National Tax Service, Customs Service, and Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation.

In particular, the unit uncovered various types of virtual asset crimes such as so-called 'scam coins' fraud, which causes numerous victims among ordinary citizens, market manipulation, illegal over-the-counter trading, and coin deposit fraud. So far, 41 people have been booked, and 18 of them have been detained. Among the detained suspects are the Lee Hee-jin and Hee-moon brothers, who were nicknamed the 'Cheongdam-dong stock tycoons,' as well as Park, known as 'Jonber Kim,' who embezzled 80.9 billion KRW through scam coins.

In this regard, the 'Virtual Asset User Protection Act' was first enforced on the 19th of last month. Previously, there were no provisions to punish unfair trading related to virtual assets, so charges such as fraud under the Criminal Act were mainly applied. Going forward, under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, life imprisonment is possible if the unfair gains exceed 5 billion KRW.

The prosecution plans to upgrade the Joint Unit, currently established as a temporary task force (TF), to a formal department in the future. Prosecutor General Lee said, "We will mobilize national capabilities to respond to virtual asset crimes and promote the formal establishment of the Joint Unit. We will thoroughly investigate and eradicate unfair trading in virtual assets, ensure no gaps in recovering criminal proceeds, restore market order, and devote all efforts to protecting investors and other market participants."