South Korean Civil Servant Charged With Embezzling $400,000 to Buy Crypto

A South Korean civil servant has been charged with allegedly embezzling over $400,000 from government funds and using some of it to invest in cryptocurrencies.

According to a Yonhap News Agency report, the Cheongju District Prosecutors’ Office announced that they had arrested and charged an unnamed grade six civil servant working at Cheongju City Hall.

The accused, in their forties, is accused of misappropriating approximately 600 million won (around $438,000) over a seven-year period beginning in January 2017. Prosecutors state that a portion of these funds was used to purchase cryptocurrencies and trade stocks.

According to the indictment, the civil servant in question oversaw student work placements and support projects for North Korean defectors settling in Cheongju, and is accused of forging official documents to facilitate the embezzlement of public funds.

Prosecutors have taken action to recover the alleged stolen assets. A spokesperson for the Cheongju District Prosecutors’ Office stated that they have seized property and assets, including apartments and vehicles, in an attempt to recoup the funds. The prosecution stated their intention to build a comprehensive case.

A prosecutor’s office spokesperson promised that the team “will ensure our case has no loopholes so that the defendant is given a sentence appropriate to the nature of this crime.”

The report follows the South Korean Financial Services Commission’s inaugural law to protect crypto investors coming into force last month. This law aims to protect investors following high-profile incidents such as the Terra-Luna crash and FTX’s collapse.

Embezzlement of funds by law enforcement has a long history and has been made more complex with the introduction of crypto, Anmol Jain, head of investigations at compliance provider AMLBot, told Decrypt.

“Officers working on the Silk Road case were also convicted of stealing Bitcoin from the site during the investigation. Its mentioned in the very famous book ‘Tracers in the Dark,'” he said. “Embezzlement involving cryptocurrency by police officers is a growing concern for sure, but given the circumstances I believe a large number of these cases go undetected.”

“Powerful forensic tools focused on cryptocurrency tracing, like Chainalysis or Elliptic, can significantly boost effectiveness of law enforcement,” he said. “However, in order to seize of stolen funds, the government will need assistance from owners of closed financial data like CEXes and other exchanges.”

South Korea and crypto

South Korea has seen a number of crypto-related cases involving civil servants recently.

In November 2022, a high-ranking South Korean civil servant was also photographed trading Dogecoin (DOGE) on his phone during an official meeting. In March, a Seoul civil servant was arrested for crypto fraud and voice phishing attacks.

And in January 2024, an international manhunt was launched resulting in the arrest of an employee of South Korea’s National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) in the Philippines. He was charged with embezzling around $3.5 million, converting the proceeds to crypto and fleeing to live a “life of luxury” at a resort in the country.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to add comment from AML Bot and Immunefi.