Woori Bank

History

2022: Detention of $3.4 billion in cryptocurrency fraud suspects

On August 11, 2022, it became known that employees of the South Korean prosecutor's office made the first arrests during the investigation of foreign exchange transactions in the amount of $3.4 billion for potential links with illegal activities related to cryptocurrencies.

South Korean prosecutors have arrested three people on suspicion of involvement in illegal cryptocurrency trading activities worth $3.4 billion, Bloomberg reports. The arrest was made on charges of establishing and managing cryptocurrency trading companies without registering their activities, Daegu County prosecutors said in a text message.

Cryptocurrency fraud suspects detained in South Korea

In addition, the accused were seen providing false data to banks and conducting significant international currency transactions abroad, the department noted. According to local news outlet Chosun Ilbo, the defendants are related to a company that withdrew funds worth 400 billion won ($307 million) from Seoul's Woori Bank abroad, as a result of which they received significant arbitration profits.

Between May 2021 and June 2022, five branches of Woori Bank registered a significant number of irregular transactions totaling 1.6 trillion won, according to a statement from the Financial Conduct Service of South Korea. The agency also identified similar transactions totaling 2.5 trillion. won in 11 branches of Shinhan Bank between February 2021 and July 2022.

Prosecutors in South Korea did not provide further details. Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank also declined to comment on the matter.

The country's legislatures are in the process of drafting rules for digital asset trading, and the so-called Basic Law on Digital Assets is expected to be passed in the first half of 2023.^[1]

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