South Korean Prosecution Crypto Crime Unit Officially Launches

The South Korean prosecution service has officially launched a specialized crypto crime investigation unit to fight crypto scams and coin fraud.

The body is named the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office-run Joint Investigation Unit (JIU) for Virtual Asset Crimes.

The unit has been operating since 2023. But it was originally intended to function as a temporary task force.

It was formed to fight what officials thought would be a short-lived spike in high-profile crypto-related fraud cases.

Crypto Crime: New Unit to Tackle Fraud Cases

However, the JIU has been inundated with work since its formation. And with crypto adoption and crypto-related crime on the rise in South Korea, last month, the prosecution service decided to formalize the body and grant it a certain degree of independence.

Per Aju News and MBC News, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office has essentially “promoted” to the level of “formal joint investigation department.”

As its name suggests, the body consists of public prosecutors. But it also comprises 11 financial regulators staffers from the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service.

The JIU will initially have 34 full-time employees in total. Most of the staffers already have considerable experience dealing with crypto-related fraud cases.

At a launching ceremony, the body vowed to investigate “unfair” crypto “practices.” These include insider trading and price manipulation cases.

Since its initial inception, the body has indicted 74 people and arrested 25 individuals.

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In recent months, the JIU’s operations became the subject of front-page news, when it began probing a suspected scam coin named Queenbee.

The investigation eventually led the JIU to indict a high-profile shaman named Jeon Seong-bae, aka Geon Jin.

The JIU arrested the shaman on suspicions of “handling illegal political funds from politicians and candidates” during the nation’s 2018 local elections.

The unit will be led by Chief Prosecutor Park Geon-wook. His team also comprises two deputy chief prosecutors.

The Southern District Prosecutors’ Office said that as crypto fraudsters become more “sophisticated, intelligent, and globalized,” it would create an “effective crime response system.”