By Kim Rahn
Police plan to seize the 1 billion won ($890,000) in cash found in two boxes at a storage facility, under suspicions that the money was obtained illegally.
An officer at Yeongdeungpo Police in Seoul said Monday, “It is highly likely that the money was procured in connection with some sort of crime, considering such a large sum of cash was kept secretly in storage rather than in a bank, for such a long time.”
Police plan to seek a search warrant for the seizure of the money.
Based on fingerprint identification and the footage from surveillance cameras around the facility, police earlier confirmed the identity of the man who had left the two boxes full of cash at the warehouse in Yeouido on Aug. 25, last year under a one-year storage contract.
The man, 31-year-old Kim, was convicted years ago for making tens of billions of won by issuing private lottery tickets on the Internet, according to police.
Police suspect the 1 billion won in the boxes may be concealed earnings from the illegal lottery business or from other corrupt activities. They are investigating a more detailed connection between the money and a crime.
Kim left for Indonesia on Feb. 7, two days before the boxes were found. Police are searching for his exact whereabouts through the Korean embassy there. They are also questioning his family for more clues.
Police are also checking the call records of three cell phones, which Kim provided as his contact information at the warehouse. The phones were registered under three different people’s names — one dead, another a construction worker, and the third a homeless person who lent his name to Kim in exchange for money.
The prosecution is also involved in the case. “We are examining who the money belongs to and whether we can prove the money is related to illegal activity,” a prosecutor at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office said.
The money was discovered after the warehouse manager reported the suspicious, unclaimed boxes to police on Feb. 9, guessing they contained explosives.
Instead, hard cash totaling 200 million and 800 million won was found in the two boxes. The money is currently at a bank as the storage warehouse is moving to another region.