Although bitcoin prices plummeted over the weekend, the overall bull-run remains alive, as well as the crypto-related fraud cases in South Korea. The latest figures by the domestic financial watchdog show that such incidents are still on the rise.

Police to Dedicate a Special Unit to Investigate Crypto Frauds

According to Asia Kyungjae, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) revealed that crypto fraud reports skyrocketed by over 41.6% yearly.

The statistics from the FSS from January to October 2020 show that the 41,6% increase belongs to 555 cases of suspicious transactions.

Due to the significant surge of cases, the police promised to increase its efforts in cracking down crypto-related fraud rings across the nation. In fact, authorities launched a dedicated investigation team at the financial crime unit in provincial offices.

Among the bureaus involved in the crypto fraud’s investigations include the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, the State Affairs Coordination Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutors’ Office, and the National Police Agency.

South Korean Fraudster Found Guilty of Scamming $16 Million

Furthermore, Yonhap reported another millionaire crypto fraud case in South Korea as a fraudster named by the court just as Lee was given a six-year jail term. He was found guilty of having built a scheme that scammed around 1,300 people in just seven months.

Prosecutors said he took from victims around $16 million worth in crypto and fiat. Judge Cho Sang-min revealed details of the case:

The defendant tricked the victims, saying that they could get big profits in a short time, and sold virtual currency issued by an intangible Chinese company.

Lee ran its fraud scheme between October 2018 and May 2019, attracting investors by telling them, “if you buy cryptocurrency sold by a Chinese parent group, you can make enormous profits.”

However, the fraudster became even more suspicious after claiming that the Chinese company he was promoting is “a solid business with a 30-year history of 500 trillion won and plans to enter the electric vehicle industry with an investment of 4 trillion won.”

Also, the court handed 18-month and eight-month sentences to two of Lee’s accomplices for their participation in the crypto fraud ring.