South Korean law enforcement has arrested 23 people accused of laundering approximately $11.1 million worth of illegal funds using the stablecoin USDT. The operation, which allegedly ran from February 2024 to April 2025, involved purchasing Tether and trading it across crypto exchanges to obscure the origins of the money.
The sum, equivalent to roughly 15 billion Korean won, makes this one of the more notable crypto-related enforcement actions in South Korea this year. At least 14 of the arrested individuals have been identified as South Korean nationals.
How the scheme allegedly worked
Illicit funds, reportedly tied to phishing operations, were converted into USDT, then shuffled through exchange accounts to make the money trail harder to follow.
USDT’s characteristics make it particularly attractive for this kind of activity. It settles quickly, costs almost nothing to transfer, and trades with deep liquidity across virtually every major exchange globally. On networks like TRON, where a large share of Tether transactions occur, sending six or seven figures worth of stablecoins takes seconds and costs pennies.
