South Korean prosecutors will formalize the launch of a special unit devoted to solving crypto crime and punishing coin price manipulators and fraudsters.
Per Digital Today, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office-run Joint Investigation Unit (JIU) for Virtual Asset Crimes will officially launch “in February at the earliest or in March at the latest.”
Crypto Crime: South Korean Prosecutors’ Not-So-New Unit
The unit began life as a temporary task force in July 2023. However, the new move will see the prosecution service effectively “promote” the JIU. This will see the latter become an organization in its own right.
The headquarters of the South Korean Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. (Source: YonhapNewsTV/YouTube/Screenshot)
The move will require legal changes. Quoting unnamed government officials, the media outlet wrote that the Ministry of Justice is ready to enshrine the new body’s existence in law.
The ministry will draft an amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Prosecutors’ Office Act.
And the ministry’s move could also “adjust the number of prosecutors” assigned to the unit. This, it reportedly says, will allow the prosecution to “respond to virtual asset crime efficiently and systematically.”
The unit, as its name suggests, comprises more than just prosecutors. Its members also belong to regulatory bodies like the Financial Supervisory Service and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
Other government bodies are also involved, including the National Tax Service, the Korea Customs Service, and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The nation’s stock exchange, the Korea Exchange, also has representatives on the team.
Within a year of the JIU’s launch in 2023, it had indicted 41 people, arrested 18 people, and seized, confiscated, or frozen 141 billion won ($97.5 million) worth of Bitcoin (BTC), altcoins, fiat, and other assets.
Its workload has become increasingly complex. The JIU has dealt with multiple cases of suspected crypto fraud and price manipulation.
Its bailiffs have, among other things, seized uptown buildings in Seoul and a collection of over a dozen supercars.
Crypto Fraud on the Rise – Prosecutors
The government feels that the JIU has demonstrated a “clear” ability to get results, the media outlet wrote.
And with “virtual asset-related crimes” now “increasing,” Seoul has decided to act on the prosecution’s own request to transform the JIU into a “department” of the prosecution service.
The Ministry of Justice now wants to “collect opinions” on its “revised enforcement ordinance” proposal.
It plans to wrap up the consultation period by February 5 and formalize the launch “in February at the earliest or in March at the latest,” the government sources concluded.
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