Illegal Foreign Exchange Transactions Worth 600 Billion Won Uncovered: "Export Proceeds Laundering Referred to Prosecution"

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on May 3, 2026 that the "Pan-Government Task Force for Illegal Foreign Exchange Transactions," formed in cooperation with related agencies, has uncovered illegal foreign exchange transactions amounting to approximately 600 billion won.

According to the Ministry, the task force discovered a small-scale overseas remittance company that had issued multiple virtual accounts allowing deposits from third parties, and illegally remitted about 400 billion won worth of foreign currency abroad, including profits from operating illegal online gambling sites. The company has been referred to the prosecution on charges including unregistered foreign exchange business.

The task force also identified a money transfer broker who, without proper registration or reporting procedures, received about 200 billion won worth of export proceeds such as used cars and parts from foreign traders in the form of virtual assets, and paid the exporters in won after deducting fees. The broker has been referred to the prosecution on these charges.

The task force is currently investigating cases where, in order to evade taxes, the unit price of exported items such as scrap metal was reported at only one-eighth of the normal price, and the difference was brought into Korea through accounts under borrowed names.

In addition to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the task force includes the National Intelligence Service, National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Financial Supervisory Service, and the Bank of Korea. When illegal foreign currency remittance activities, such as funds from online gambling, were discovered during inspections of small-scale overseas remittance companies by the Financial Supervisory Service, the information was shared with the Korea Customs Service, which then conducted investigations and referred cases to the prosecution, demonstrating cooperation among the participating agencies.

The National Tax Service is investigating whether companies that underreported scrap metal export amounts have committed tax evasion, while the National Intelligence Service is gathering criminal intelligence related to overseas organizations. The Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea are seeking institutional improvements to facilitate information sharing on foreign exchange and to resolve difficulties experienced by each agency during investigations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.