The Gwangju prosecutor's office reported full access restoration to the stolen cryptocurrency. An unknown attacker transferred 320.8 BTC from their address to the official department wallet.
The return of funds happened amid widespread crypto exchange account freezes globally.
History of Confiscated Assets
Authorities uncovered an illegal gambling platform with a total turnover of roughly 390 B won. Following the bust, the organizers actively converted their profits into Bitcoin to hide the revenue.
Initially, police seized the coins from a local woman during a major criminal investigation. Officials later discovered a zero balance in the wallet while transferring the confiscated funds to the state treasury.
On January 8, the Supreme Court upheld a 2.5-year prison sentence for the crypto wallet owner.
The Bitcoin vanished last August when officials tried to verify the funds through a fake phishing website. Authorizing the wallet on the compromised site led to the instant theft of all 320.8 BTC.
Investigators quickly froze the hacker's addresses on local exchanges. International trading platforms also blocked the funds at the authorities' request.
Unexpected Ending
On February 17, on-chain data showed a full reverse transaction to the government address. The attacker lost all ability to cash out the stolen Bitcoin into fiat, prompting a voluntary return of the coins.
Law enforcement agencies are continuing an internal investigation to establish the exact circumstances behind the official data compromise.