South Korean police have arrested two people over the disappearance of 22 Bitcoins that had been seized as evidence in a hacking case in 2021.
The cryptocurrency, which was worth about 2 billion won, was under the custody of the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul. And according to the South Korean authorities, the Bitcoin was confiscated five years ago, after it was stolen during a crypto scam.
The case is now being investigated by the Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency, and the agency has confirmed the arrest of two suspects, identified as B and C, on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act. The suspects are said to be linked to the A Coin Foundation, which originally filed a hacking complaint.
According to the local news outlet, the 22 Bitcoins were secured in November 2021 during an investigation into a computer fraud case. The A Coin Foundation reported that nearly 700 million A Coins, worth about 4.8 billion won at the time, had gone missing.
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The police started to trace the funds and routed them to a crypto exchange, and in the wallet, they found 22 Bitcoin connected to the case.
The coins were stored in a wallet under a woman’s name, but she told investigators she never created the wallet and believed her identity had been stolen. She later signed documents giving up ownership, and immediately the police seized the Bitcoin.
Source: South Korea’s police chief
However, instead of storing the coins in a police-controlled cold wallet, investigators reportedly kept them in a cold wallet provided by the foundation, creating a security risk.
The Bribery and Corruption Linked to the Seized Bitcoin
The case also involves earlier bribery claims. The court ruled that officials linked to the foundation offered bribes to speed up the hacking investigation and influence its outcome.
Additionally, the court said bribery damages public trust and must be punished strictly. The prison sentence in that case was finalized last month after an appeal was dismissed.
Investigations into the missing Bitcoin are still ongoing, and authorities say further details cannot yet be confirmed.
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