40s Arrested for Virtual Asset Fraud and Investigation Bribery Request

A fraudster who even requested favors from a case broker after being investigated for a cryptocurrency investment scam has been arrested.

The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 10th that they have arrested A (44) on charges of receiving investment funds under the pretense of cryptocurrency investment and embezzling part of it (violation of quasi-deposit activities, etc.).

A is under investigation by the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency without detention for two offenses, including recruiting investors for alternative non-fungible tokens (NFTs) such as masterpiece artworks, receiving over 2.2 billion won in investments, and embezzling over 100 million won for personal use.

He is also reported to be under investigation or has been punished for similar charges by other police agencies nationwide.

A was scheduled to attend a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive review) on the 26th of last month but failed to appear without any notice.

Eventually, the court issued a warrant to bring A in, conducted the substantive review that day, and issued a pre-arrest warrant.

Prosecutors' investigation revealed that A gave money and gifts to case brokers to request favors in the case. The case brokers, Seong (62) and Jeon (63), have already been indicted and are on trial.

Seong and Jeon were prosecuted on charges of receiving a total of 1.854 billion won in multiple installments from A and other donors, who were under investigation for fraud cases from 2020 to 2021, by promising to "resolve the cases favorably."

In particular, Seong, known as a case broker for investigative agencies in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions, was investigated for receiving 1.539 billion won in luxury foreign cars and cash from cryptocurrency scam suspects by leveraging connections with high-ranking police officials.

Prosecutors are also reportedly expanding their investigation into whether case broker Seong actually exerted influence over investigative agencies and local governments.

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