Billions of won worth of Bitcoin seized by the prosecutor's office have gone missing, exposing a security breach

A serious issue has occurred at the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office in South Korea. It has been revealed that a large amount of Bitcoin, which was seized and stored in connection with a criminal case, went missing during a routine inspection. According to reports from South Korean media Ohmy News, the total value of the lost digital assets is estimated to be in the billions of won, and the prosecutors are currently conducting an internal investigation.

Routine Inspection Reveals Anomalies in Financial Assets

The prosecutors’ office was conducting regular checks to verify that there were no irregularities in the financial assets under their custody. During this process, an unexpected incident occurred while checking access codes related to Bitcoin stored on mobile storage devices (USB drives).

Specifically, it is believed that internal staff members made a mistaken operation, leading to access to an untrustworthy cryptocurrency-related website. It is highly likely that, during this series of events, access rights to valuable digital assets were lost.

Loss of Crypto Assets Due to Access to Fraudulent Sites

The prosecutors involved stated in response to media inquiries: “We have confirmed that during the routine check of Bitcoin seized in connection with the case, an issue occurred, and we inadvertently accessed a so-called ‘fraudulent site.’ According to an initial internal investigation, the estimated value of the missing Bitcoin could be around 70 billion won.”

The occurrence of such an incident within a public institution highlights vulnerabilities in organizational security systems. It has reaffirmed the necessity for stricter protocols and access restrictions to securely manage high-value virtual currency assets.

Internal Investigation and Future Measures

Currently, the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office is conducting a comprehensive internal investigation into the incident. They are working to determine the detailed cause and clarify responsibility, but detailed information has not yet been disclosed to the media.

This issue underscores the need for enhanced security measures and transparency in the management of digital assets by government agencies. Attention is focused on what corrective actions the prosecutors’ office will implement moving forward.