"Why Are There Blackout Curtains Next Door?"... Prosecutors Indict and Detain 1 Trillion Won Money Laundering Ring

A group that secretly laundered funds worth over 1 trillion won from apartments across the country has been indicted and detained.

Photos of dummy accounts and dummy phones used by a money laundering organization. Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office

On January 21, the Joint Investigation Unit for Voice Phishing Crimes at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office announced that it had indicted and detained seven members of a money laundering organization, including ringleader A (age 39), mid-level manager B (age 30), and money laundering operative C (age 26), on charges such as organizing a criminal group, participating in a criminal organization, and violating the Act on the Refund of Damage from Telecommunications-based Financial Fraud. Six other members, including the organization's leader D (age 40), are still being pursued.

According to prosecutors, from March 2022 to November of last year, the group is suspected of laundering a total of 1.575 trillion won in funds-including money obtained from voice phishing scams-across seven apartments nationwide, including in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, and Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

During the crime, they used more than 180 dummy accounts and meticulously managed these accounts, marking separately those that were suspended due to voice phishing reports or other reasons.

The investigation revealed that, to evade law enforcement tracking, the group rented apartments under the names of lower-level members and referred to them as "centers." They installed blackout curtains to block outside contact and relocated the centers if any unusual incidents, such as a member leaving the group, occurred. If a lower-level member was detained, they would hire a lawyer to monitor the investigation, and if a dummy account holder was caught, the organization would pay the fines on their behalf to prevent the investigation from expanding further.

Through a search and seizure of the residence of ringleader D and related locations, prosecutors confiscated luxury goods and jewelry worth approximately 400 million won, as well as assets in the names of D's family members amounting to about 3 billion won, for a total seizure of around 3.4 billion won.

A prosecution official stated, "We will pursue every single participant until the end so that no one escapes the investigation, and we will ensure that those indicted and detained receive punishment commensurate with their crimes. In addition, we will thoroughly recover criminal proceeds to support victim restitution."