Gang Arrested for Passing '200 Million Won Counterfeit Bills' as Cryptocurrency Trading Funds

A group who handed over counterfeit bills worth around 200 million won as payment for a direct cryptocurrency (coin) transaction has been arrested by the police.

On the afternoon of the 17th, Judge Jeong Jae-yong of the Seoul Central District Court held a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing) and issued arrest warrants for two men in their 20s, A and B, who are accused of fraud and currency counterfeiting. Judge Jeong stated that the reasons for issuing the warrants were concerns over evidence destruction and flight risk.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the police, A introduced B to victim C, an acquaintance who wanted to sell coins, saying that if they conducted a direct transaction without going through an exchange, they would not have to pay fees.

On the morning of the 15th at around 1:30 a.m., B met C in front of a restaurant in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, handed over 4,200 bills of 50,000 won each, totaling 210 million won, and received coins worth about 300 million won in return.

However, while checking the money they handed over, C realized that all the serial numbers were the same counterfeit bills and caught B.

The police, who responded to the report, arrested B on the spot as a suspect at around 3 a.m. On the same day at around noon, A was also urgently arrested in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu. B is reported to have claimed that he was acting under A’s instructions.

The police plan to investigate the exact circumstances and motives of the crime with these individuals.

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