Prosecutors have launched a forced investigation into the Seoul Regional Tax Office. This is to investigate suspicions of collusion between a National Tax Service employee and Lee Mo (33), the CEO of a virtual asset (coin) company.
According to the prosecution on the 8th, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office's Joint Investigation Unit on Virtual Asset Crimes (Chief Prosecutor Park Geon-wook) conducted a search and seizure of the Seoul Regional Tax Office's Investigation Division 3 at the end of last month.
During the investigation into Lee's financial flows, who earned tens of billions of won through coin price manipulation, the prosecution detected signs of tax evasion and concealment. Lee had been subject to a source of funds investigation by the Seoul Regional Tax Office's Investigation Division 3 for five years from 2017 to 2022.
Based on the materials secured through the search and seizure, the prosecution plans to investigate whether there was a collusive relationship between Lee and the National Tax Service employee. It is also reported that earlier this month, the prosecution summoned and questioned the National Tax Service employee who was in charge of the company led by Lee.
Lee was prosecuted for allegedly manipulating coin prices by inflating trading volumes using an automated program from July to October last year, earning an illicit profit of approximately 7.1 billion won (violation of the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users).
At the time of indictment in January, the prosecution confiscated criminal proceeds including about 3.3 billion won in lease deposit for Lee's apartment in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and coins worth about 3.5 billion won stored in Lee's exchange account.
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