Illegal Exchange Operators Sentenced to Prison for 400 Billion Won Cryptocurrency Black Market Trading

A group that created an illegal virtual asset over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform and brokered coin black market transactions worth 400 billion KRW was sentenced to prison.

Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul.
Photo by Daehyun Kim kdh@

On the 11th, the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced A, the CEO of the OTC company, to three years in prison on charges of violating the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information.

B, the sales director who was also indicted, received a two-year prison sentence, while three employees were given suspended prison sentences.

According to the prosecution, A and others are accused of opening an illegal OTC exchange without registering as virtual asset service providers from March 2021 to November last year, trading, brokering, and mediating coins worth 400 billion KRW. They are also charged with illegal currency exchange and remittance by so-called 'hwanchigi'?exchanging about 7 billion KRW worth of Chinese yuan into domestic Korean won.

A reportedly advertised the company as the "largest domestic coin OTC," operating four offline stores in Yeouido and Gangnam, Seoul, disguising them as currency exchange offices while continuing illegal OTC transactions.

The prosecution noted that numerous abnormal high-value cash transactions and suspicious illegal or illicit transactions occurred at this exchange. They explained that this case is the first confirmed instance where the coin black market was used as a channel for various money laundering activities.

A prosecution official stated, "We will continue to strictly respond to crimes such as illegal coin trading that promote underground money laundering."

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