The Seoul Jungnang Police have apprehended 19 individuals, including the chief suspect of a domestic money laundering organization, for violations related to telecommunications fraud and crime proceeds concealment. The arrest includes four individuals who have been detained following investigations into their operations that allegedly exchanged funds from voice phishing crimes into virtual assets like Tether (USDT). These operations reportedly took place in unregistered virtual asset businesses and exchanges located in office buildings in Myeongdong, Seoul. The laundering scheme involved converting cash into virtual assets and then transferring these assets to the electronic wallets of foreign criminal organizations.

Furthermore, it has been revealed that the organization, which appears to be a familial structure consisting of couples and relatives, attempted to disguise its activities by importing precious metals under the pretense of price increases. They engaged in transactions where payments for gold were made using virtual assets, and they later exported these metals. The scale of the criminal profits from voice phishing and other crimes is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of Korean won. Authorities are continuing to investigate the extent of these operations, focusing on recovering the embezzled funds.

The police conducted raids on four locations, including the residence of the voice phishing management head and their office in Myeongdong, resulting in the apprehension of 12 suspects and the confiscation of approximately 6 billion Korean won in total, which includes cash and precious metal assets. The primary suspect who has fled abroad remains on the run, and police are pursuing further investigations through international cooperation to locate him and his accomplices, emphasizing their commitment to tackling such money laundering schemes effectively.