South Korean police lose Bitcoin seized in 2021 investigation

South Korea’s Gangnam Police Station has confirmed that 22 Bitcoins worth about ₩2.1 billion (roughly USD 1.6 million) were lost from police custody, authorities said on Friday.

The disappearance of the crypto assets, seized during an earlier investigation, was discovered during a nationwide review of virtual asset handling by law enforcement.

Seoul police lose seized Bitcoin, internal probe launched

The incident comes amid growing scrutiny of how police and prosecutors secure digital assets obtained in criminal cases, following a similar loss of 320 Bitcoin (BTC) from the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office last year.

Police said the 22 Bitcoin in question were voluntarily surrendered by suspects during a 2021 investigation and have been held in custody since then. During a recent internal check triggered by the Gwangju incident, investigators discovered the coins had been transferred out of the storage wallet without authorization.

Interestingly, the physical cold wallet, a USB-style device meant to securely store the private keys, was still in Gangnam Police’s possession, but the Bitcoins themselves were gone. This suggests the digital keys were accessed and the assets moved without leaving obvious signs of theft of the hardware itself.

The Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency has launched a formal internal investigation to determine exactly how the coins were transferred out and whether any personnel were involved.

So far, police have not publicly accused staff of criminal involvement, but officials said they are examining internal access logs, wallet key management procedures and any evidence of unauthorized digital transfers.

Authorities have not said whether any of the missing Bitcoin have been recovered or traced to external wallets, but investigators are reportedly reviewing blockchain transaction records.