South Korean police close case on missing $1.6 million in Bitcoin without audit, officers not held accountable

CoinFeed, June 24 – According to the Chosun Ilbo, Seoul police did not conduct an internal audit into the 22 BTC (approximately $1.6 million) that went missing from an evidence storage room, nor did they take disciplinary action against those responsible. The report confirms that the officer in charge of the evidence at the time of the loss faced no accountability. The Gangnam Police Station in Seoul seized the Bitcoin in November 2021 during a financial hacking investigation, storing the assets on a cold wallet USB device. During an evidence check in 2022, authorities found the wallet empty. Police admitted they should have transferred the assets to a police-controlled cold wallet but failed to do so, arguing that relevant guidelines were not yet in place at the time. However, the newspaper found that police had internally discussed and recommended more secure storage methods as early as July 2021, which the Gangnam station did not adopt. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency stated it is currently reviewing the custody status of virtual assets seized after March 2022.