Seizure and Forfeiture of Crime Proceeds Amounting to 131.6 Billion Won in the First Half of the Year... 74% Decrease Compared to Last Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] The National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency announced on the 20th that it confiscated and preserved criminal proceeds worth approximately 131.6 billion KRW from a total of 452 cases in the first half of this year.

Compared to the same period last year, the number of preservation cases increased by 30% (from 351 to 452 cases), but the amount decreased by 74% (from 507.3 billion KRW to 131.6 billion KRW). The police explained that this was due to a 97% decrease in damages from illegal activities subject to confiscation and preservation, such as virtual asset fraud, from 2.7632 trillion KRW in the first half of last year to 78.9 billion KRW this year. The amounts preserved by year were 8 billion KRW in 2017, 21.2 billion KRW in 2018, 70.2 billion KRW in 2019, 81.3 billion KRW in 2020, and 835.1 billion KRW last year.

Confiscation preservation refers to preventing suspects from arbitrarily disposing of illegal proceeds subject to confiscation before a final court ruling. If confiscation is not possible, the equivalent value is collected. Looking at the preservation amounts by case type in the first half of this year, embezzlement and breach of trust accounted for the largest share at 40.4% (53.2 billion KRW), followed by illegal gambling hall operation at 18.1% (23.8 billion KRW), prostitution mediation at 17.2% (22.7 billion KRW), and fraud at 10.7% (14.1 billion KRW). When dividing the total 131.6 billion KRW by asset type, deposits and bonds were the largest at 60.1 billion KRW, followed by real estate at 59.2 billion KRW, and automobiles at 3 billion KRW.

A National Investigation Headquarters official stated, "We plan to increase dedicated personnel for tracking and preserving criminal proceeds and continuously strengthen professional capabilities to ensure that criminal proceeds are identified in all cases until the end," adding, "We will strive to eradicate the motives for crime and to restore the public's property damage as much as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.