South Korea’s Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Workplace offered 320.8 BTC and despatched 31.6 billion received ($21.5 million) in proceeds to the nationwide treasury, in line with native media stories.
Sale particulars
Chosun Ilbo reported the workplace liquidated the bitcoin in batches over 11 days, from Feb. 24 to March 6.
The bitcoin was initially seized in a raid on a global playing platform that operated from 2018 to 2021.
Prosecutors mentioned the operators hid felony proceeds by changing them into bitcoin.
Phishing theft and return
The Gwangju workplace beforehand misplaced management of the seized bitcoin in August 2025 after officers managing the property had been tricked by a phishing web site.
The theft was not found till December 2025.
Final month, the hacker despatched the 320.8 BTC again to an authority-controlled pockets.
Prosecutors mentioned that they had blocked the pockets’s entry to varied liquidation channels earlier than the bitcoin was returned.
Different company lapses
The incident adopted different reported safety failures involving seized or government-held crypto property.
A nationwide inside investigation discovered Seoul’s Gangnam Police Station had misplaced 22 BTC saved in a USB chilly pockets since 2021, with the machine itself reportedly by no means stolen.
The Nationwide Tax Service additionally confronted criticism after a report allegedly uncovered a pockets restoration phrase, after which 4 million Pre-Retogeum (PRTG) tokens—reported as theoretically price $4.8 million—had been moved to an unidentified handle.
Authorities mentioned the hacker within the Gwangju case stays at giant and the investigation will proceed.