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| ▲ Rep. Kim Nam-kuk of the Democratic Party (Yonhap) |
lawmaker-cryptocurrency trading
Prosecutors denied search warrant last year over cryptocurrency suspicions involving opposition lawmaker
SEOUL, May 8 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors had unsuccessfully sought a warrant to search the financial records of main opposition lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk last year over suspicions he had held 6 billion won (US$4.5 million) in cryptocurrency, sources said Monday.
Kim of the Democratic Party recently came under intense media scrutiny after it was revealed he had owned around 800,000 Wemix coins in his digital wallet between January and February last year, worth about 6 billion won in total at that time.
He reportedly withdrew all the coins from the digital wallet before the enforcement in March last year of the Travel Rule that requires virtual asset brokers or market operators to report the identities of sellers and buyers to the financial authorities for trading worth 1 million won or more.
The massive cryptocurrency assets of Kim had not been disclosed to the public through the regular asset disclosure that requires high-ranking government officials and lawmakers to disclose financial or other assets they and their family own, although virtual assets are not subject to such disclosure. The whereabouts of the withdrawn coins also remain unknown.
Kim reported assets worth 1.27 billion won in March last year and 1.53 billion won in March this year.
According to the sources, the Seoul Southern District Court filed for a search warrant last year to track the money flow regarding how Kim came to possess the coins after receiving information on Kim's coin trading from the Financial Intelligence Unit.
The court, however, reportedly rejected the warrant request, saying Kim's massive coin possession did not warrant criminal suspicions.
Prosecutors said they will consider seeking a search warrant against Kim again.
In a message on Facebook, Kim claimed he bought the coins with the money he earned by selling shares and said he had not borrowed or received money from anyone.
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