- Suspect reportedly used ChatGPT to fake crypto transaction history.
- Man told court he owned $630,000, but actually had under $1 in his bank account.
- Prosecutors say suspect operated a fake investment scheme worth $223,000.
Artificial intelligence is laying bare weaknesses in the South Korean court system after an alleged crypto fraudster used it to avoid criminal proceedings, critics claim.
Those critics are calling for the courts to overhaul their procedures to keep bad actors from getting away with their crimes.
The development comes as a fresh blow to the South Korean judiciary, which has recently come under fire from critics complaining of undue “leniency” in sentencing crypto fraudsters.
It also comes as experts warn that AI is enabling cybercriminals to steal even more crypto.
‘Identified with the naked eye’
The latest backlash against the courts comes after a man in his 20s managed to dupe legal professionals with falsified documents he reportedly generated using ChatGPT.
The case began when prosecutors investigated the man, who remains unnamed for legal reasons, on suspicion of running a $223,000 investment fraud scheme, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
Prosecutors asked the court to issue an arrest warrant. The man responded by saying he planned to compensate victims, and produced a range of documents that appeared to prove he was a wealthy and successful individual.
These included “a record of cryptocurrency holdings and transactions,” prosecutors said. The man also presented the court with a certificate showing he had passed the national medical exam and a bank statement showing a balance of around $630,000.
After receiving these documents, the court decided against issuing the warrant. The only problem? All of them turned out to be fake.
“The defendant managed to deceive judges by sending the court AI-generated images that were so sophisticated that their inauthenticity could not be identified with the naked eye,” a prosecution official told Yonhap.
Systematic change needed
Prosecutors in the city of Busan said they only discovered something was amiss with the documents when they later conducted supplementary investigations.
They followed up by checking on his account status at his bank branch, where they discovered he had just $0.016 in his bank account.
Experts said the case has exposed a major loophole in the South Korean legal system and urged the government to respond.
“There is no system in place to screen out forged documents in court,” an anonymous former judiciary member told South Korean broadcaster MBC. “Rather than basing our legal system around the good faith assumption that no one would submit forged documents to a judge, we now need to make fundamental changes to the legal system.”
The man has since been arrested on additional charges of forgery and the use of falsified official records.
Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at tdalper@dlnews.com.
