The government's task force on illegal foreign exchange transactions said on the 3rd that it referred a company to prosecutors on suspicion of unregistered foreign exchange business, after uncovering allegations that it illegally remitted and ran an underground remittance scheme for $600 billion worth of dollars overseas.
Earlier, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the National Intelligence Service, the National Tax Service, the Korea Customs Service, the Bank of Korea, and the Financial Supervisory Service launched a pan-government task force on illegal foreign exchange transactions on Jan. 1. As the won-dollar exchange rate surged in the second half of last year to near 1,500 won, the government decided to tighten its crackdown on illegally moving dollars overseas.
The government said, "We handed over to prosecutors, on suspicion of unregistered foreign exchange business, a small-amount overseas remittance company that illegally sent overseas foreign currency worth 400 billion won." These companies reportedly created 25,000 one-time virtual accounts and received split remittances. The limit for undocumented overseas remittances through small-amount remittance companies is $100,000 (about 150 million won) per year, and they exceeded that limit.
In addition, a broker suspected of violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act by running an underground remittance scheme for export proceeds worth 200 billion won, including used cars and auto parts, was also referred to prosecutors. After the exporter received payment in virtual assets and sent them to the broker, the broker sold the virtual assets, deducted fee revenue, and transferred the remainder to the exporter's account, according to the account. The government is also continuing to investigate companies that received the trade payments.