The government of South Korea’s Gyeonggi Province seized assets totaling $47 million in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies from 12,000 people who had evaded taxes, according to Financial Times.
Officials described the event as the largest ‘cryptocurrency seizure in Korea’s history due to unpaid taxes’.
The arrest followed months of investigation.
According to the provincial government, to conceal assets the evaders used local exchanges that did not collect account holders’ resident registration numbers.
To identify them, investigators used mobile phone numbers, manually processing activity data on the platforms.
Among those evading taxes was a well-known television presenter, whose debt exceeded $17,000. He held digital assets worth $440,000, the publication notes.
Compliance with KYC became mandatory norms for cryptocurrency companies in the country from 25 March 2021.
Details on which Bitcoin exchanges were affected by the investigation were not disclosed.
Earlier, Seoul authorities seized digital currency worth $22 million from individuals who had evaded taxes.
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