A stash of crypto worth almost $5 million that was stolen after South Korean tax authorities mistakenly leaked its seed phrase has been stolen for a second time after the original thief handed it back.
The country’s National Tax Service accidentally shared a photo of the 24-word seed phrase in a press release last month. The corresponding wallet contained $4.8 million worth of a crypto called pre-retogeum (PRTG) which was stolen shortly afterwards.
This thief reportedly submitted a confession to the police on March 28 and was arrested two days later. The thief claimed they “stole the cryptocurrency out of curiosity but then returned it.”
However, officials at a police press briefing this week revealed that they’re now tracking a second thief who stole the crypto again after it was returned.
“We will investigate the additional theft as we continue to investigate the previous suspect who confessed,” police said.
According to local reports, the police haven’t identified the second thief and haven’t clarified if they’re the original owner of the cryptocurrency, who was under investigation for tax evasion.
The stolen PRTG is believed to be almost unsellable due to the token’s unpopularity.
South Korea busy dealing with crypto crime
In another odd turn of events in South Korea, a legally “dead” man apparently returned to repay victims who fell for a crypto investment scheme.
The man fled to Cambodia in 2019 after orchestrating a crypto fraud and was deported back to South Korea this January. When he fled, a “declaration of disappearance” was issued, which classified him as legally dead.
This was challenged in courts, and $60,000 worth of frozen funds have since been returned to victims.
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Elsewhere, a police officer in charge of crypto investigations has been jailed for six years after accepting $82,000 worth of bribes to cover up a coin consignment fraud investigation.
Another man was handed over to South Korea’s prosecution after he allegedly extorted $25,000 worth of crypto from women who wanted him to take down personal photos from his “Joo-club” Instagram account.