Prosecutors Dismiss Allegations of Bank Bundle Band Disposal Without Charges

"No Evidence of Systematic Concealment of Evidence Found"
Special Prosecutor's Referred Case Officially Closed

The prosecution has closed the investigation by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office into the alleged disposal of bank bundle bands without charges.

Seoul Seocho District Prosecutors' Office. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 5th, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office announced, "There was no evidence found to suggest that those responsible for handling seized items intentionally damaged or destroyed the bank bundle bands and packaging, or systematically concealed evidence," and stated that the case has been dismissed without charges.

This allegation emerged when the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office lost the bank bundle bands and stickers from bundles of cash seized during a search of Jeon Seong-bae's residence in December 2024. At that time, the prosecution secured cash, including 50 million won in Bank of Korea bundled notes, but failed to preserve the bands and stickers that contained information such as the inspection date and the responsible department.

In October of last year, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office concluded from its audit and investigation that there had been practical mistakes in the management of the bundled notes, but found no evidence of instructions from higher-ups to conceal evidence.

Subsequently, Special Prosecutor Ahn Kwonsub's team also investigated the allegations. The special prosecutor judged that the case involved work-related errors, such as insufficient documentation of the seized items and inadequate cross-checking, but referred the case back to the prosecution instead of directly concluding it within their mandate.

After reviewing the case referred by the special prosecutor, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office determined that there was insufficient evidence for criminal prosecution and decided not to indict.

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