According to reports, the prosecution established a coin investigation group in response to the significant surge in connected offenses such as ‘virtual currency fraud.’ It is believed that hundreds of thousands of people have lost money as a result of investing in virtual currency.
The investigative team is an autonomous agency of the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office’s Financial Securities Crime Unit, which is presently in charge of financial crime investigations.
Those who lost their property due to virtual currency speculation even committed abduction and murder in Gangnam, Seoul, in April. Moreover, it is believed that a consensus has been developed that a separate investigative body is required in light of the promotion of laws concentrating on the protection of virtual asset users. According to a lawyer:
“We need an investigation that suits the specificity of virtual assets.”
South Korean prosecutors are expected to have the first joint meeting with the country’s Financial Commission, Financial Supervisory Service, and Deposit Insurance Corporation on the formation of a virtual asset joint agency on June 19. The joint venture is set to go live in early July.
When the virtual asset joint investigation team is formed, it seems that it will concentrate on delisted coins among the so-called “Kimchi Coins.” They are alternative digital currencies that are traded primarily in Korean won and are listed on local markets.
The formation of the joint company is anticipated to accelerate inquiries into virtual assets. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office is also looking into charges of unlawful virtual currency trading by independent legislator Nam-guk Kim and embezzlement by Bithumb’s major shareholder and executives.
Bitcoin, which is traded globally, has a very small percentage of local virtual currency transactions, with many of them being so-called ‘Jobcoins.’ One-third of them are kimchi coins, whose prices vary significantly. Victims were mass-produced by selling and fleeing as soon as investors gathered. It is reported that hundreds of kimchi coins have been delisted.
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