A man in his 30s converted 747.6 billion won ($541 million) in virtual assets for a 1.6 billion won ($1.16 million) fee, channeling funds through Chinese smugglers and gold dealers; prosecutors and police cooperated from the early stages of the investigation before securing an indictment.
By Yang Geun-hyuk, The Herald Business
Prosecutors have indicted a man in his 30s, held in custody, on charges of helping launder more than 700 billion won ($507 million) in criminal proceeds through Huione Pay, the payment system of Cambodia's Huione Group.
Huione Pay has been identified as a money-laundering conduit for transnational criminal organizations engaged in fraud and human trafficking in Cambodia and elsewhere. The United States and other members of the international community imposed financial sanctions on the platform last year. Allegations have also surfaced that North Korea has used it to launder money.
The Incheon District Prosecutors' Office's International Crime Investigation Division, led by Chief Prosecutor Yu Byeong-guk, indicted the suspect, identified only as A, on June 1 on charges of violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, and the Act on Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment. A, who was born in China, acquired South Korean citizenship through naturalization in 2008.
A is accused of pocketing roughly 1.6 billion won ($1.16 million) in fees while converting 747.63 billion won ($541 million) worth of virtual assets — received through overseas cryptocurrency exchanges — into Korean won at domestic exchanges between March 2022 and August last year. He then allegedly withdrew the funds as checks or cash and handed them to Chinese smugglers.
The smugglers used the money to buy cosmetics at duty-free shops and deliver them to criminal organizations in Hong Kong and elsewhere, investigators found. A also faces charges of routing some funds by paying gold purchase costs on behalf of others at domestic gold dealers. The virtual assets A converted to cash were found during the investigation to be coins laundered through Huione Pay.
Police and prosecutors cooperated closely from the early stages of the case. Police opened the investigation last August after receiving a report from a domestic commercial bank connected to a virtual asset exchange. In March, they sought an arrest warrant for A — which prosecutors filed with the court — but the court rejected it.
After prosecutors requested supplementary investigation, police conducted additional work including account tracing. In April, a court granted a preservation order, freezing approximately 4.1 billion won ($2.97 million) in A's bank deposits. Police sought a second arrest warrant late last month, and this time the court issued it, placing A in custody.
Prosecutors took over the case from police in mid-May and conducted their own supplementary investigation, analyzing records of virtual asset liquidations and export declarations and questioning A as a suspect. That inquiry uncovered additional offenses: A had set up a corporation, wired money to domestic gold dealers and exported the purchased gold. Prosecutors recalculated the criminal proceeds and forfeiture amounts on that basis before indicting him.
yg@heraldcorp.com
