South Korea's National Tax Service seized 8.1 billion won ($5.8 million) in cash and luxury goods after raiding 124 wealthy tax evaders who claimed they could not pay while living lavish lifestyles.
The tax agency announced Thursday that it conducted intensive on-site searches targeting delinquent taxpayers who received large real estate sale proceeds or maintained steady business income last year while evading taxes. The raids yielded 1.3 billion won in cash and 6.8 billion won worth of items including gold toad figurines and luxury watches.
The evaders employed diverse and sophisticated methods to conceal their assets.
Taxpayer A, who owed billions of won in capital gains taxes, hid assets at a former spouse's residence. When investigators arrived with police for forced entry, the taxpayer's daughter leaving for work refused to let them check her bag and threw it down in resistance. Cash bundles of 50,000-won notes totaling 100 million won spilled out. Investigators found an additional 60 million won inside, seizing 160 million won total.
One case involved cash hidden in a kimchi container in a bathroom cabinet. Taxpayer B owed comprehensive income taxes after borrowing corporate funds without repayment. Despite owning no property, B resided in an affluent neighborhood. After repeated persuasion, investigators searched the residence and discovered a kimchi container stuffed with 50,000-won notes under the bathroom sink, seizing 200 million won.
Taxpayer E, in their 70s, collected billions of won from apartment sales and withdrew money in 1-million-won increments hundreds of times from ATMs, scattering the cash throughout the home. Family members refused entry citing the parents' divorce, creating a seven-hour standoff until forced entry was announced. Investigators found 2,200 fifty-thousand-won notes totaling 110 million won in closets, vanity drawers, and cardboard boxes on the balcony.
Taxpayer C, who failed to pay taxes after selling an expensive building, created a fraudulent 1.6-billion-won mortgage to obstruct forced property sales. However, simultaneous searches at a common-law spouse's residence uncovered 400 million won worth of luxury watches and bags. When four USB drives containing cryptocurrency wallet keys were found in a drawer and withdrawal was attempted, C voluntarily released the mortgage.
Investigators also uncovered numerous cases of assets hidden as luxury goods: a corporate executive who concealed 13 luxury watches including Rolex timepieces and seven Hermès bags worth approximately 100 million won in a bedroom safe; a delinquent taxpayer storing 151 don of pure gold including golden toad figurines and gold bars in a safe. Another search of a dressing room belonging to an evader who inflated acquisition costs to evade capital gains taxes yielded approximately 100 million won in cash and gold bars.
The tax agency said seized cash will be immediately applied to outstanding tax debts, while luxury bags and jewelry will be sold at public auction. Park Hae-young, Director General of the NTS Tax Collection and Legal Affairs Bureau, said the agency plans to hold two auctions for the 492 seized items and will host a first-ever public exhibition displaying the confiscated goods. "Auction proceeds will be deposited into the national treasury and used as resources for the public," Park said.