In South Korea, the city of Gunpo is experimenting with a pilot program to seize the cryptocurrencies of individuals who fail to pay their fines on time. If the experimentation of this measure proves successful, it could pave the way for a national rollout.
A disproportionate measure?
According to local newspaper Joongboo Ilbo, the South Korean National Police Agency is running a pilot project to seize crypto-assets.
As a result, police in the city of Gunpo are now authorized to seize cryptocurrencies from individuals who fail to pay their fines.
As part of this, Gunpo police officers can freely check whether offenders are holding crypto-currencies on exchange platforms.
Since the implementation of this program, at least one individual has seen his cryptocurrency wallets seized. Also according to Joongboo Ilbo, officers reportedly discovered that he was holding the equivalent of $38,000 on exchange platforms. An operation conducted by the police because of the non-payment of a fine equivalent to $ 1,900 …
This seizure seems disproportionate and the police of Gunpo remain silent on how the remaining 36,100 dollars will be treated after the payment of the fine.
Kwak Kyung-ho, chief of the Gunpo police station, said the move was aimed at “tightening the collection process from offenders”.
It is highly likely that this crypto asset seizure experiment will go beyond the borders of Gunpo City and be adopted nationwide in the near future.
