South Korean prosecutors lose seized Bitcoin in phishing incident
South Korean prosecutors have lost Bitcoin seized during a criminal investigation following a phishing-related security breach, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing Yonhap.
According to the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office, the loss was discovered during a routine inspection of seized financial assets.
The virtual assets had been stored on a USB device, and authorities believe the loss occurred after the password linked to the seized Bitcoin was leaked externally. The incident is believed to have taken place around mid-2025.
“We are conducting an investigation to track the whereabouts of the seized assets,” prosecutors said, adding that they could not confirm further details.
An official told Yonhap that the office had suffered phishing-related damage but declined to disclose the amount of Bitcoin lost or provide additional information.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported on a case involving one of the largest cryptocurrency seizures in British history, in which a Chinese woman was sentenced in the UK to more than 11 years in prison for money laundering.