Criminal proceeds repatriated from abroad for first time

Criminal proceeds have been repatriated to South Korea from abroad for the first time in the country's history, prosecutors here said Friday.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office (SPO) said they have retrieved some 980 million won ($873,000) in criminal proceeds leaked by a multilevel marketing scammer to the United States a decade ago.

The repatriated money was paid back to a total of 691 victims defrauded by the scammer identified as Kwak, who is now in custody in South Korea, the SPO said.

It marked the first time for the nation's prosecution to retrieve criminal proceeds funneled abroad and return them to the local victims.

The 48-year-old Kwak pocketed 258 billion won from some 10,000 victims from 2007 to 2008 by fooling them into thinking he would establish an investigation firm and share the profits. Some 1.96 billion won was wired abroad and used to buy a house in the United States under the name of his wife. He is currently serving a nine-year prison term.

In 2010, the prosecution asked the US authorities to forfeit the house in California. The US Homeland Security Investigations sold the house and sent the 980 million won back to Korea in September.

"Victims expressed gratitude for the return of part of the money that they have already given up on," an SPO official said. (Yonhap)