The unnamed official was in charge of budget spending at the social welfare administrative center in Ulsan City, South Gyeongsang Province.
Between June and December 2022, in 41 separate transactions, the defendant withdrew public funds totaling about $159,000 from the social center.
The man tried to cover his tracks by writing off these amounts as expenses for office supplies, security payments, and payment of energy bills.
Investigators discovered that the defendant had spent most of the money on investments in cryptocurrencies and had already suffered huge losses from his investments.
Court finds official guilty of theft of public funds. He was sentenced to one year of suspended imprisonment and two years of probation.
In imposing the sentence, the court considered the fact that all of the stolen money was returned to the local government.
In addition, the defendant incurred losses in the investment and did not refuse to cooperate with the police in the investigation of the case.
With the rise of cryptocurrency crimes among South Korean officials, the country’s prime minister said it was necessary to force local officials to declare crypto-assets.
The Bank of Korea (BoK) is also making efforts to protect users investing in digital assets.
In April, the central bank said it would increase oversight of cryptocurrency companies and request transaction data from cryptocurrency exchanges.