The head of the Healthcare Security Division of South Korea's National Health Insurance Service, responsible for national health insurance, embezzled 4.6 billion South Korean won of public funds and nearly depleted it through involvement in cryptocurrency contract trading.

BlockBeats News, July 16th, according to SBS, on July 16th, the chief of the finance department of the National Health Insurance Service, responsible for South Korea's universal health insurance, embezzled 4.6 billion Korean won in public funds but almost lost it all due to participating in a crypto contract transaction.

The South Korean prosecution stated that the supervisor with the last name Choi, in his capacity as the head of the financial management team from April to September 2022, embezzled up to 4.6 billion Korean won through 18 system operations and then fled overseas. The supervisor with the last name Choi was once found splurging at a luxurious resort in the Philippines and was eventually caught in Manila in January 2024.

Through civil litigation, the National Health Insurance Service managed to recover 720 million Korean won, but the remaining over 39 billion Korean won was almost entirely lost in the cryptocurrency contract market by Supervisor Choi, rendering traditional recovery mechanisms ineffective. Supervisor Choi was convicted in the first and second trials by judges who stated, "Public servants are required to be honest, but the method of embezzling a large amount of funds systematically is extremely malicious," and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The verdict on the 15th upheld the original sentence. (BlockTempo)