The Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office has confirmed the sale of all 320.80 Bitcoin recovered from a hacker and the transfer of the proceeds, valued at KRW 31.59bn (US$23.5m), to the national treasury, according to The Chosun Daily. The digital assets were initially seized from the daughter of a couple convicted of operating a large-scale illegal overseas gambling site.
The couple, investigated by the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency, had concealed criminal proceeds from a KRW 390bn gambling operation by converting funds into Bitcoin. Their daughter, identified as Ms A, received a final sentence of two years and six months by the Supreme Court in January for charges that included operating a gambling space. Following the ruling, prosecutors began the process of transferring the seized Bitcoin to the national treasury.
During this transfer, all 320.80 BTC was lost when officials managing the seized assets accessed a phishing site. Authorities later discovered that the Bitcoin had been moved to a wallet controlled by a hacker. Prosecutors then initiated a freeze on both domestic and international crypto exchange accounts to prevent liquidation.
On the 17th of last month, the hacker returned the full amount to the prosecutors’ electronic wallet. A prosecution official said the rapid account freezes likely prompted the hacker to voluntarily return the assets.
To minimise market impact, the Bitcoin was sold in small batches over 11 days, from February 24 to March 6. The Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office stated that it will conduct an internal investigation into the circumstances that led to the asset loss while continuing efforts to identify and track the hacker responsible.
South Korean prosecutors routinely liquidate seized crypto assets in small increments to avoid price fluctuations
