A South Korean civil servant has been charged with allegedly embezzling over $400,000 from government funds and the utilization of just a few of it to put money into cryptocurrencies.
In line with a Yonhap Details Company file, the Cheongju District Prosecutors’ Attach of dwelling of job announced they had arrested and charged an unnamed grade six civil servant working at Cheongju City Corridor.
The accused, in their forties, is accused of misappropriating approximately 600 million won (round $438,000) over a seven-year length initiating in January 2017. Prosecutors divulge that a fraction of these funds changed into once aged to purchase cryptocurrencies and trade shares.
In line with the indictment, the civil servant in demand oversaw student work placements and toughen tasks for North Korean defectors settling in Cheongju, and is accused of forging legitimate documents to facilitate the embezzlement of public funds.
Prosecutors net taken roam to enhance the alleged stolen property. A spokesperson for the Cheongju District Prosecutors’ Attach of dwelling of job said that they’ve seized property and property, at the side of residences and autos, in an try and recoup the funds. The prosecution said their design to develop a comprehensive case.
A prosecutor’s workplace spokesperson promised that the crew “will make sure our case has no loopholes in divulge that the defendant is given a sentence appropriate to the character of this crime.”
The file follows the South Korean Monetary Products and companies Price’s inaugural law to guard crypto investors coming into power final month. This law objectives to guard investors following excessive-profile incidents equivalent to the Terra-Luna shatter and FTX’s collapse.
South Korea and crypto
South Korea has considered a assortment of crypto-linked circumstances intriguing civil servants no longer too long previously.
In November 2022, a excessive-ranking South Korean civil servant changed into once additionally photographed trading Dogecoin (DOGE) on his phone at some stage in an legitimate meeting. In March, a Seoul civil servant changed into once arrested for crypto fraud and negate phishing assaults.
And in January 2024, an global manhunt changed into once launched resulting in the arrest of an worker of South Korea’s National Health Insurance Company (NHIC) in the Philippines. He changed into once charged with embezzling round $3.5 million, changing the proceeds to crypto and fleeing to dwell a “lifetime of luxury” at a resort in the nation.
