Overview
- Korea Customs says roughly 148.9 billion won was laundered by buying crypto overseas, moving assets to South Korean wallets, cashing out into won, and dispersing proceeds through numerous local bank accounts.
- Investigators report the transfers were labeled as cosmetic surgery fees and overseas education costs to make repeated high-value movements look like ordinary service payments.
- Authorities say customers sent money via WeChat Pay and Alipay before conversion to crypto and subsequent transfers into South Korea for liquidation.
- The activity is described as running from September 2021 to June of last year, with outlets differing on whether the end date was 2024 or 2025.
- Prosecutors have not announced arrests, asset seizures, or charges as the case remains at the referral stage, while officials expand coordinated crackdowns and tighten Travel-Rule expectations after a surge in suspicious crypto filings.