Police are investigating whether the 6.8 billion won in cash stolen from an unmanned warehouse in Songpa District, Seoul, last year was criminal proceeds.
The Songpa Police Station in Seoul said on the 18th that in Jul., it booked a man in his 30s, identified only by the surname A, the owner of the cash, on suspicion of violating the Act on Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment and is investigating.
After receiving A's report in Sept. last year that "6.8 billion won kept in a warehouse had disappeared," police arrested a warehouse management employee in his 40s, identified only by the surname Sim, as a suspect. Sim was indicted and detained on charges including nighttime break-in theft and was sentenced to four years in prison at the first trial in Apr.; the second trial is underway after appeals by prosecutors and Sim.
Police, harboring doubts as A, who had been staying overseas, failed to clearly explain the source of the funds, continued the investigation. They also demanded an explanation for why tens of billions of won in cash was stored in an unmanned warehouse instead of a bank. During police questioning, A said A was self-employed and claimed the cash came from business funds.
Police reportedly traced the source of about 3.9 billion won in cash seized from Sim without returning it to A and detected indications that it was linked to a crime. However, police did not specify what charges those indications were related to. It was confirmed that in Jul., after A returned to Korea, police summoned A as a suspect and pressed A on the source.
Depending on the outcome of the investigation, police are considering measures to preserve confiscation or collection of the seized cash.