South Korean Prosecutors have arrested a group of foreign nationals – including North Korea defectors and at least one Libyan national – suspect”Kimchi Premium”-type crypto trading crime.
Per In Yonhap, prosecutors charged and detained three individuals, including a 44-year-old Libyan and a 43-year-old North Korean defector. All three were held on charges of violating the Specific Financial Information Act and the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.
Two other North Korean defectors, one aged 43 and the other aged 54, were charged with violating the Electronic Financial Transactions Act and the Specific Financial Information Act, respectively. Both these persons were released on bail pending trial.
Current Kimchi Premium Price – As trading volumes increase in South Korea, the discrepancy between domestic prices and prices on overseas platforms has widened. (Source: cryprice.com)
Prosecutors say the group bought more than $76 million in coins — and “thousands” of tokens — on foreign exchanges. Authorities said the group acted on behalf of suspected “associates” and “clients” in Libya.
An official from the Prosecution Service was quoted as saying:
“We are continuing the investigation [suspected] Fellow. we will work hard to recover [the funds] and prevent similar crimes.
What is Kimchi Premium?
Kimchi Premium is a phenomenon that bitcoin (btc) And altcoins Trading on South Korean exchanges takes place at significantly higher prices than on international platforms. This event occurs when there is increased demand among South Korean retail investors.
Some traders have tried to take advantage of this by buying coins from over-the-counter sellers and then “dumping” them onto domestic platforms.
In the bull run of 2017, the premium peaked at around 55%. Then the premium disappeared. But it re-emerged during the 2020-2021 bull run and moved to late teens and beyond.
Prosecutors say the group was active between October 2021 and October 2022.
They said the 44-year-old Libyan acted as a “broker” for clients in his native country. His clients reportedly expected him to help speed up remittances and help them spend less on fees.
South Korean prosecutors, police officers and customs officials have tried to fight On kimchi premium trading in recent years. They believe that the businessmen have used a sophisticated network of shell companies to throw off the investigators.
Last month, prosecutors said they were expecting to indict as many as 20 people. Handling $3.2 Billion of Kimchi Premium Transactions,
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