Prosecutors had sought a warrant twice last year to search the financial records of main opposition lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk over suspicions surrounding his cryptocurrency assets, but the requests were denied, sources said Wednesday.
Kim of the Democratic Party has been under intense media and public scrutiny following revelations he had owned around 800,000 Wemix coins in 2021, worth around 6 billion won (US$4.5 million) at that time.
Kim reportedly withdrew all the coins before last March, ahead of the enforcement of the so-called Travel Rule requiring cryptocurrency exchanges to report personal information when a transferred amount exceeds a 1 million won threshold.
The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office had filed for two search warrants last year, the first in late October and the other in early November, to track the money flow behind Kim's coin trading. But the court had rejected both, saying Kim's massive coin holdings did not warrant criminal suspicions, according to the sources.
The prosecution is currently reviewing whether to seek another search warrant against Kim.
Source: Yonhap News Agency