Cash and Herm?s Bags Hidden in Kimchi Container Inside Safe... Prosecutors Forcibly Seize Assets from Confiscation Order Defaulters

The prosecution has seized hidden assets from individuals who had operated illegal gambling sites and continued to evade payment of tens of billions of won in criminal proceeds, following forced enforcement and litigation against those with unpaid confiscation orders.

The prosecution searched the premises of a person who failed to pay the confirmed fine related to operating an illegal overseas gambling site and seized eight luxury bags (worth approximately 100 million KRW) and a kimchi container hidden in a safe with cash. Provided by Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office

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On April 16, the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, headed by Chief Prosecutor So Jeong-su, announced, "We searched the actual residence of an individual who failed to pay a confirmed confiscation order of 3,980,000,000 won related to operating an illegal overseas gambling site and seized hidden assets."

During this search, prosecutors found and seized 12,300,000 won in cash and eight luxury handbags, including Herm?s Birkin bags worth approximately 100,000,000 won, concealed inside a kimchi container in a safe at the residence. According to the current Criminal Procedure Act and National Tax Collection Act, prosecutors are permitted to search a defaulter's residence and other locations if asset seizure is necessary to execute a confiscation order.

In addition, prosecutors won a lawsuit against the wife of another individual who failed to pay a 2,880,000,000 won confiscation order after violating the Capital Markets Act by operating a private futures trading site. The prosecution filed a creditor subrogation suit to recover 2,200,000,000 won in unjust enrichment from the defaulter's wife and obtained a provisional execution verdict in the first trial on April 14.

The investigation revealed that this individual used funds from a shell corporation under his wife's name to purchase a luxury apartment in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, in July 2020, registered under his wife's name, for approximately 2,200,000,000 won. The recent actual transaction price for apartments of the same size in the same building is approximately 3,650,000,000 won. To execute the unpaid confiscation order, the prosecution plans to proceed with a compulsory auction of the apartment registered under the wife's name.

A prosecution official stated, "We will do our utmost to thoroughly recover criminal proceeds so that it becomes firmly established that the prosecution will relentlessly track and confiscate the proceeds of crime."

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