The head of South Korea's health insurance misappropriated 4.6 billion KRW to "play with Crypto Assets contracts" and lost it all! Sentenced to 15 years.

The Korean National Health Insurance Corporation (국민건강보험공단) responsible for universal health insurance has had an insider leak. The head of the finance department misappropriated 4.6 billion KRW of public funds, but lost it all due to investments in crypto assets. (Background: A university student made 80 million KRW from cryptocurrency trading, but lost everything after heavily investing in biotech stocks during a one-and-a-half-month military service: learned these two lessons.) (Context: The competition for Korean won stablecoins has fully ignited: banking alliances, tech giants, and Web3 companies are getting on board; who can lead the charge first?) The Korean National Health Insurance Corporation is similar to Taiwan's National Health Insurance Administration. Recently, a case of embezzlement of 4.6 billion KRW (equivalent to about 97 million TWD) was revealed, where a finance manager surnamed Choi misappropriated public funds and transferred them into crypto asset contracts, nearly losing it all. The Supreme Court of Korea upheld a 15-year sentence on July 15 but did not recognize money laundering, leaving questions about the regulation of digital assets. Source: Korean media Hani. Where the public funds went: crypto gambling. According to SBS reports, Korean prosecutors stated that the manager surnamed Choi, from April to September 2022, misappropriated as much as 4.6 billion KRW of public funds through 18 system operations while in charge of the finance management team and then fled overseas. Choi was found at a luxury resort in the Philippines, and was eventually captured in Manila in January 2024. The National Health Insurance Corporation managed to recover 720 million KRW through civil litigation, but the remaining 3.9 billion KRW was lost in Choi's crypto asset contract market, rendering traditional recovery mechanisms ineffective. Choi was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the first and second trial judges, noting that 'public officials are required to be clean, but the method of systematically misappropriating large sums of money is extremely heinous.' The final ruling upheld the original sentence on the 15th. Lost everything, not considered money laundering. Current anti-money laundering regulations, such as the 'Specific Financial Transaction Information Reporting and Utilization Act,' require exchanges to implement customer due diligence and report suspicious transactions. However, the court ruled that while Choi's actions constituted corruption, they did not amount to money laundering since the funds were ultimately lost, nor did they support the prosecution's claim for the recovery of 3.9 billion KRW. The Korean prosecutors expressed dissatisfaction, stating that Choi's misappropriation of public funds to purchase tokens at a virtual currency exchange in Korea and transferring them to an overseas exchange was not recognized by the court as a violation of money laundering laws, sparking discussions in the local crypto community. Related reports: Metaplanet CEO participates in acquiring Korean software company SGA, promoting a new 'Bitcoin reserve company.' Korean crypto companies are turning around! The amendment to include 'startups' can reduce taxes and obtain subsidy funds. 'Korean health insurance manager misappropriated 4.6 billion KRW to play crypto asset contracts and lost everything! Heavily sentenced to 15 years' was first published in BlockTempo, the most influential blockchain news media.