Fraudster Who Embezzled 1.5 Billion Won in Coins Claims "Never Touched the Phone"... Caught by Prosecutors' Electronic Wallet Analysis

Foreign Defendant Denies Charges at Trial
Prosecutors Secure Wallet Address
Sentenced to Four Years in First Trial

Although a foreign defendant accused of embezzling virtual assets worth 1.5 billion won fully denied the charges, it has been confirmed that prosecutors secured additional electronic wallet addresses during the trial, leading to a guilty verdict.

On the 1st, a flag in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, fluttered in the wind as Shim Woojung, the Prosecutor General, tendered his resignation after only nine months in office. Following the cancellation of the arrest warrant for former President Yoon Seok-yeol, the Special Investigation Team on Treason plans to investigate Prosecutor General Shim for abuse of authority and other charges. 2025.07.01 Photo by Yoon Dongju

According to the reporting by The Asia Business Daily on the 3rd, the 15th Criminal Division of the Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Joungho) sentenced a man in his 30s from Kyrgyzstan, identified as Mr. A, to four years in prison on June 25 for fraud and other charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. Prosecutors had sought a seven-year sentence.

Mr. A was accused of luring the victim, Mr. B, away to another location in December last year, then taking advantage of a lapse in vigilance to access a virtual currency wallet application installed on Mr. B's mobile phone and transferring Tether coins worth 1.5 billion won to an unknown electronic wallet. Investigations revealed that Mr. A had accessed the victim's electronic wallet using a password he had learned in advance.

The Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Mr. A under detention on December 30 of the same year. However, at the first trial, Mr. A completely denied the charges, reportedly insisting that he had not even touched the victim's mobile phone at the time of the crime.

The main issue was whether the virtual assets that left the victim's wallet could be linked to Mr. A. During the investigation phase, no clear connection was found between the electronic wallet address used in the crime and the wallet address managed by Mr. A. Mr. A also used this as grounds to deny the charges.

In response, the 2nd Public Trial Division of the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office (headed by Prosecutor Lee Jonghyeok) conducted witness examinations of the victim, investigators, and others during the trial, obtaining additional leads. During the victim’s testimony, it was confirmed that there had been prior virtual asset transactions between Mr. A and the victim that had not come to light during the investigation phase. Prosecutors then newly secured the virtual asset wallet address previously used by Mr. A from the victim.

Prosecutors subsequently requested a virtual asset analysis from the Cyber and Technology Crime Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office to verify the connection between the wallet address used by Mr. A and the address involved in the crime. After receiving the results of the analysis, prosecutors submitted them as additional evidence and also provided the court with a written opinion explaining the significance of the findings.

Prosecutors also obtained and submitted as evidence additional investigation reports on aspects such as discrepancies in the times shown on CCTV footage of the crime, which could be challenged by the defendant’s side. The court accepted these arguments from the prosecution and found Mr. A guilty.

The prosecution stated, "In a situation where the defendant fully denied the crime, we were able to prove the connection between the electronic wallet used in the crime and the defendant through the victim’s testimony and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s virtual asset analysis during the trial process," adding, "Given the seriousness of the crime and the defendant's lack of remorse, we are considering whether to appeal."

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