"Addicted to Gambling" Son Arrested After Contacting Father 1,500 Times Asking for Money

Son Who Gambled in High School Borrowed 1.7 Billion Won
Father Blocked Phone Number and Moved Because of Son

A man in his 20s who contacted his father 1,500 times to borrow gambling money despite a court-issued restraining order has finally been brought to trial.

On the 15th, the Criminal Division 3 of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jeong Hwajun) announced that a man in his 20s, Mr. A, was arrested and indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Punishment of Stalking Crimes and habitual gambling. Mr. A is accused of contacting his father, Mr. B, 1,500 times via text messages or phone calls from June 14 last year to February 21 this year, despite a court order prohibiting contact and approach.

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office building. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Mr. A began gambling in early 2020 when he was a high school student. Initially, he engaged in simple online gambling such as guessing odd or even numbers and ladder games. When he needed gambling funds, he lied to his father, saying he needed investment money for stocks and cryptocurrency, and started borrowing money from him. To deceive his father, Mr. A even fabricated photos manipulating his account to make it appear as if he had earned money through stock investments.

Even after joining the military, Mr. A could not quit gambling and continued to ask his father for money. Suspicious, Mr. A’s father eventually realized that his son was seriously addicted to gambling and refused to give him money from that point on. However, his son's persistent contact did not stop. Investigations revealed that the money Mr. A’s father lent to him amounted to about 1.7 billion won, and the funds Mr. A deposited into gambling site accounts from early 2020 to June last year totaled approximately 2.6 billion won (including amounts exchanged and re-deposited). Eventually, Mr. A’s father changed his address and blocked his phone number to avoid his son’s contact.

When Mr. A could not reach his father, he demanded money by sending small transfers to his father’s account along with messages. Ultimately, Mr. A was reported under the Stalking Punishment Act and received a provisional order and temporary restraining order from the court to "not contact his father."

After receiving the case from the police without detention, the prosecution conducted supplementary investigations, further confirming Mr. A’s habitual gambling offenses and excessive contact with his father. After review, Mr. A was detained. A prosecution official stated, "We requested related agencies to block the illegal gambling sites used by the defendant and to suspend payments on accounts related to the gambling sites."

Meanwhile, even within family relationships, continuous unwanted contact can be punishable as stalking. Recently, a man in his 60s was sentenced to one year in prison with two years of probation in the first trial for threatening and stalking his half-brother, claiming he did not receive a proper share of inheritance. He was found guilty of stalking after repeatedly visiting his half-brother’s apartment and workplace. Since the Stalking Punishment Act abolished the provision requiring the victim’s consent for prosecution, offenders can be punished even if the victim does not wish to press charges.