On July 15, PANews reported that Choi, the head of the financial management team of the National Health Insurance Service of South Korea, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for embezzling 4.6 billion won. The Supreme Court upheld the original sentence. From April to September 2022, Choi embezzled 4.6 billion won through manipulating the internal system 18 times and later fled to the Philippines. He was arrested in January 2024 at a luxury resort in Manila. Investigations showed that, apart from the 720 million won the service recovered through civil litigation, Choi used most of the remaining 3.9 billion won for cryptocurrency futures investments, all of which resulted in losses.
The court recognized the severe nature of his crimes but did not support the prosecution's allegation that Choi laundered money by transferring funds through cryptocurrency, nor did it accept the request for the recovery of 3.9 billion won. In addition, Zhao, a colleague suspected of assisting Choi in his escape and transferring 16.7 million won, was sentenced to 4 months in prison, with 1 year of probation, and is currently undergoing appeal.
