[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] A man in his 20s was fined for illegal online gambling using a smartphone while serving in the military.
On the 8th, Judge Cho Guk-in of the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 9 announced that he sentenced A (24), who was charged with fraud for accessing illegal online gambling sites via smartphone in military barracks and spending hundreds of millions of won, to a fine of 7 million won.
A is accused of withdrawing approximately 960 million won from seven bank accounts opened under his name to engage in illegal online gambling. From 2015 until last year, he gambled illegally at a military barracks located in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, and in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, before being caught by military investigators and prosecuted in the military court last year.
The court explained the sentencing, stating, "Considering the nature and scale of the crime, the duration and frequency of the offenses, the culpability is by no means light," but also took into account "the absence of prior criminal records and the defendant’s full admission of the crimes along with his pledge not to reoffend."
A was tried in a military court but was discharged and has been tried at the Seoul Eastern District Court since January. When a defendant is discharged during a military trial, the case is transferred to a civilian court to continue.
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