경찰, 범죄수익 ‘추적수사팀’ 만든다…보이스피싱 피해 최소화

The police are creating a dedicated investigative team to track criminal profits from crimes such as voice phishing and illegal financial transactions. They plan to establish a specialized team within each police station to trace the flow of funds before they are laundered or hidden. The Korea Police Headquarters released a plan on November 11th to enhance the system for tracking crime profits.

The goal is to help victims recover economic losses and break the financial cycle of crime. The police will divide the teams by year-end, with the Seoul and Gyeonggi South police divisions operating the 'Crime Profit Relay Team' and 'Fund Tracking Investigation Team.' The new Fund Tracking Investigation Team will focus on money laundering investigations and financial transaction analysis provided by financial authorities.

The police plan to install Fund Tracking Investigation Teams in all police headquarters by the first half of next year. They will also deploy 'Crime Profit Relay Officers' at seven police stations in Seoul, Busan, and Gyeonggi by the second half of this year. These officers will have relevant qualifications such as accounting licenses or a master's degree in police management to support the frontline investigators in tracking crime profits and relaying funds.

The police's performance in relaying funds has significantly improved, with the number of protected cases increasing from 96 in 2019 (702 billion won) to 3,400 in 2020 (8,500 billion won), a 35-fold increase. The top types of crimes are gambling establishments and organized gambling, followed by drug-related crimes and other types of fraud.

The police plan to strengthen collaboration with financial authorities such as the Financial Information Analysis Center and the Financial Supervisory Service. National Police Headquarters Deputy Head Hong Hyuk-gi stated that they aim to expand the perspective of police investigations from suspecting and punishing to helping victims recover from their losses.