Four sent to prosecutors over $204M crypto payments for illegal car exports

Four people have been referred to prosecutors without detention for allegedly illegally exporting 1,024 used cars worth 50.7 billion won to Russia and Belarus, both subject to international sanctions, and illegally receiving 279.6 billion won in cryptocurrency as export payments, Newsis reported. South Korea’s Incheon Main Customs said it sent the group, including a foreign man in his 40s identified as the ringleader and three South Korean accomplices, to prosecutors on charges of violating the Customs Act and the Foreign Trade Act. Investigators found the group received export payments in cryptocurrencies including USDT after international financial sanctions made normal remittances impossible. The funds were then sent to crypto wallets controlled by an unregistered foreign-exchange operation in South Korea and concealed by being sold on a South Korean exchange and converted into won.