Man poisoned business partner’s coffee after bad crypto investment, say prosecutors

A man tried to kill his business partner by lacing a cup of coffee with toxic pesticide after a clandestine six-figure crypto investment soured, claim South Korean prosecutors.

The business partner escaped death, but was in a medically induced coma for three days after collapsing in a busy Seoul cafe, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported.

The accused, aged 39, will stand trial for attempted murder and violations of the South Korean Pesticide Control Act, prosecutors said.

The incident comes amid a rise in crypto-related crime in South Korea.

In January, prosecutors accused a Seoul-based plastic surgery manager of laundering millions of dollars’ worth of Chinese customers’ Alipay and WeChat Pay payments.

Crypto investment failed

The unnamed duo began working together in 2022, running Bitcoin investment programmes and co-launching a company.

However, the partners’ relationship reportedly deteriorated after the accused made a further secret crypto investment of $810,000.

This investment reportedly failed, and the duo clashed after the business partner discovered that the accused had used company funds to make it.

Despite this clash, the two men reportedly continued to work together. But prosecutors say the accused resented his partner’s rebukes and planned a murder to take sole control of the company and its funds.

Prosecutors, South Korean media outlet Asia Kyungjae reported, say the accused bought a lethal dose of the illegal pesticide methomyl from an online vendor based in China.

Mesomyl is colourless and odourless, but is highly toxic. Doses of between 0.5 and 50 milligrams per kilogram of body weight can be lethal for humans. Ingestion of methomyl at even relatively modest doses can cause symptoms such as headache, vomiting, severe abdominal pain, low blood pressure, and breathing problems.

South Korean lawmakers ordered a ban on domestic methomyl manufacturing and sales in 2012. They followed up with a blanket ban on its distribution and use on South Korean territory in 2015.

Poisonous pesticide

Prosecutors said that the accused bought an unspecified amount of the pesticide on October 28 for around $200, with the product illegally smuggled into the country via Incheon International Airport in a cargo delivery from China 10 days later.

Two weeks later, when the duo had arranged to meet at a cafe near a lake in Seoul’s Songpa District, the accused allegedly arrived early and sent a text message to his business partner, asking him what he wanted to drink.

The business partner reportedly asked for an iced latte. After buying the drink, the accused reportedly added the pesticide to the beverage and gave it to his business partner when the latter arrived.

The business partner collapsed shortly after drinking the latte and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Doctors put the business partner into an induced coma, from which he only emerged three days later.

“I was about to get married, and my future wife was in the early stages of her pregnancy,” the accused business partner told Asia Kyungjae. “My family was almost completely destroyed. I have since made a partial recovery, but I still need medical treatment.”

The trial is set to begin on March 10 at a branch of the Seoul Eastern District Court.

Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at [email protected].