Illegal gambling site that live-streamed gambling scenes from overseas casinos. Photo by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit
[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] The police have arrested 130 members of a group operating a gambling site worth approximately 1.3 trillion KRW by live streaming gambling scenes from overseas hotel casinos or allowing bets on sports games.
The International Crime Investigation Division of the Drug Crime Investigation Unit at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 24th, "We have arrested 130 members of a corporate-style criminal organization that established and operated a gambling site worth about 1.3 trillion KRW by live streaming gambling scenes inside hotel casinos in Southeast Asia or using so-called 'Toto' methods that allow betting on domestic and international sports game outcomes, and detained 9 of them."
The suspects prepared offices and accommodations in Southeast Asia from July 2018 to December 2019 to operate the gambling site, dividing ranks and roles to run the illegal gambling site. To prevent members from leaving the organization, they forcibly confiscated the passports of members who entered the country to participate in the crimes and made them delete phone records in front of team leaders or executives when entering the country for reasons such as vacations.
After obtaining its own intelligence in September 2019, the police identified all members involved in the establishment and operation of the illegal gambling site through a focused investigation lasting over two years. Applying charges related to criminal organizations, most members were arrested, and 20 members who were not caught due to overseas stays were all placed on the red notice list.
During the investigation, the police identified the mastermind who fled to Southeast Asia by analyzing over 150 gambling fund deposit accounts and tracking access IPs. Through international cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, the suspect was arrested in Southeast Asia last September, and prompt repatriation to Korea is being pursued for strict judicial processing. The police traced the criminal proceeds obtained through the gambling site operations, identified about 800 million KRW worth of criminal proceeds laundered through virtual assets and brought into Korea, and confiscated and preserved them before prosecution.
A representative of the International Crime Investigation Division of the Drug Crime Investigation Unit at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency stated, "We will continue year-round, ongoing crackdowns on international crimes such as crimes committed by foreigners residing in Korea to block the inflow of overseas criminal organizations and the formation and organization of criminal groups among foreigners residing in Korea." He added, "In particular, to respond to the increasing international and foreigner-related crimes, we have established a focused investigation system centered on specialized investigators for foreigner crimes within the International Crime Investigation Division, operating specialized investigation teams by field to enhance the expertise and completeness of international crime investigations."
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