A justice court in Seoul has agreed to the petition by prosecutors requesting to freeze cryptocurrency wallets belonging to the leader of the Nth Room case. In addition, the court also froze all the security deposits, and stock accounts of the alleged child pornography ring leader.
The accused, Cho Ju-bin is the suspected head of the Nth Room, which is a Telegram channel under investigation for child pornography. According to a report by media outlet KBS Korea, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Settlement Division 30, under the guidance of Judge Lee Hyun-woo, agreed to the demands by prosecutors to confiscate 15 crypto wallets allegedly owned by Cho.
The crypto assets held within the seized wallets are suspected to shed light on the magnitude of profits that the child pornography ring leader earned with the illicit scheme. In addition, the court noted that the 130 million won ($106,734) found in Cho’s apartment back in April as a crucial piece of evidence in determining the gains made by Cho.
Cho is being charged with organizing and overseeing a network of sexually-related crimes such as broadcasting of child rape footage. According to the investigators, the child pornography scheme gained a lot of members who subscribed using cryptocurrencies to gain access to the chat rooms.
Crypto industry aiding with investigations against child pornography ring
Furthermore, both the domestic cryptocurrency industry and the authorities have participated by aiding in investigations. The crypto industry aims to minimize the usage of digital currencies in committing criminal activities.
For instance, Bithumb cryptocurrency exchange officially delisted Monero (XMR) from the platform on June 1, as part of its contribution to the Nth Rooms investigations. Monero was allegedly the primary cryptocurrency used by the child pornography ring.
The authorities have allegedly managed to track the digital fingerprints of about 40 individuals who allegedly paid using digital currencies to view child porn videos and sexual violence content. It is suspected that South Korean crypto exchanges helped the authorities to track down the suspects; although it is not yet officially confirmed.