Gangsters Invest and Three Brothers Manage Money... Group Running Illegal Sports Gambling Caught with 1.8 Billion Won

12 Arrested Including Brothers Who Opened Office in Qingdao, China, in Collusion with Organized Crime Groups

An office set up by a gang of organized crime members in Qingdao, China, to operate an illegal sports gambling site. [Image source=Busan Police Agency]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Three brothers were arrested by the police for collaborating with organized crime groups to operate illegal sports gambling sites and pocketing 1.8 billion KRW.

On the 26th, the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency announced that they had booked 12 people, including Mr. A (male, in his 40s), who operated a private sports toto gambling site with an office in Qingdao, China, and servers in Japan, on charges of violating the National Sports Promotion Act without detention.

According to the police, they are accused of operating illegal sports gambling sites from October 2011 to May 2016, for five years, and earning illicit profits worth approximately 1.8 billion KRW.

Mr. A is known to have operated the gambling site with investments from organized crime groups in the Donghae region and the Daejeon region, together with his two younger brothers.

Mr. A and others rented a multi-family house in Qingdao, dividing roles such as general manager, site and member management, and gambling fund management, and operated a sports toto gambling site that paid dividends based on the predicted winning rates of sports matches.

The police stated that all operating sites other than Sports Toto Korea, the entrusted operator of sports promotion lottery tickets by the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, are illegal.

A police official said, "Since users of gambling sites cause secondary crimes to finance gambling funds and have a negative impact on society, we plan to actively crack down on them."