South Korea Uncovers Major Crypto Laundering Ring

South Korea’s customs authorities said on Monday (19 January) that they have uncovered an international crime ring accused of laundering around 150 billion won in cryptocurrency through an unauthorised foreign exchange scheme.

The Korea Customs Service has referred three Chinese nationals to prosecutors for alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, Yonhap reported.

The suspects allegedly laundered 148.9 billion won between September 2021 and June last year.

They did so by exploiting domestic and overseas cryptocurrency accounts alongside South Korean bank accounts, the agency said.

Authorities said the suspects disguised the transfers as legitimate expenses. These included cosmetic surgery fees for foreign nationals and overseas study costs for students.

To evade financial monitoring, the suspects allegedly purchased cryptocurrency in multiple countries.

They then transferred it to digital wallets in South Korea, converted it into Korean won, and channelled the proceeds through numerous domestic bank accounts.

Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Hong Kong, based on images by rawpixel.com and hamzaazeem1387 via Freepik

The post South Korea Uncovers Major Crypto Laundering Ring appeared first on Fintech Hong Kong.