Wife Moves Money Embezzled by Late Husband Into Her Account... Police Freeze Assets

Embezzled 600 million won from company, kept over 500 million won in securities account
Wife transferred funds after husband died during accounting audit

A woman in her 50s who transferred the remaining funds to her own account after her husband died was referred to the Public Prosecution Office. Her husband had embezzled about 600 million won from his company. Police applied a charge of receiving criminal proceeds and secured the preservation of assets worth about 430 million won.

According to Yonhap News Agency and the Gyeonggi Ilsanseobu Police Station on the 19th, police said they had booked the woman, identified as A, in her 50s, on suspicion of violating the Act on Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment and referred the case to prosecutors last month.

A is suspected of transferring money her husband had embezzled from his securities account to her own account after her husband, identified as B, also in his 50s, died in March. B was found to have embezzled about 600 million won from the company where he worked and to have kept about 520 million won of it in a securities account.

The company discovered B's embezzlement during an audit in March. However, after B died during the audit process, the company filed a police complaint against his wife, A, in May, accusing her of being an accomplice to the embezzlement. It was difficult to preserve the criminal proceeds because B had already died and investigators also had to prove that A had conspired in the embezzlement. Police consulted the department responsible for criminal proceeds on how the law could be applied. They proceeded with the investigation after receiving an opinion that a preservation order for confiscation could be obtained by applying the charge of receiving criminal proceeds.

Police analyzed account transaction records, a suicide note and mobile phone contents, and obtained A's confession, confirming the allegation that she had received the criminal proceeds. Investigators found that, before reporting B's death, A used the account number and password left in his note to transfer the money to her own account, knowing it was embezzled.

After obtaining a court order to preserve 520 million won for confiscation, police secured assets worth about 430 million won that remained in A's account.

A police official said, "While investigating the embezzlement case, we identified signs that the criminal proceeds had been concealed, substantiated the related allegations and secured a preservation order for confiscation."

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