Korean police will be able to confiscate cryptocurrency as payment for fines

The South Korean police have been granted new experimental powers, allowing them to confiscate cryptocurrency from people who refuse to pay a fine. In total, the identified violators owe the state $ 763,000, and at least one Korean citizen has already had his tokens confiscated when he failed to pay a traffic fine. Korean media also reported that another persistent non-payer of fines owned $ 38,000 worth of cryptocurrency, while his debt reached about $ 2,000.

According to South Korea’s national police agency, Joongboo Ilbo, the agency is conducting a pilot project to seize cryptocurrency assets at the police headquarters in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province. As part of the project, police officers have been ordered to check whether people who fail to pay fines on time own tokens on state-owned cryptocurrency exchanges. If the information is confirmed, police officers are authorized to freeze cryptocurrency wallets and obtain warrants that allow them to confiscate coins.

If the pilot project is successful, the South Korean government will introduce such powers for police stations across the country.