'Rolls-Royce·Lamborghini Men' Involved... Illegal Leading Room and Gambling Site Gang Arrested

Police Track the Financial Reality of MZ Gang
Shin Mo's Role as Distributor for Gambling Sites

In August of last year, Shin Mo (28), the perpetrator of the so-called 'Apgujeong Rolls-Royce' case who, while intoxicated on drugs, drove a Rolls-Royce vehicle and fatally struck a pedestrian, was found to have been involved in operating an illegal gambling site and profiting from it. Hong Mo (30), who in September of the same year threatened an opponent with a weapon during a dispute while parking a Lamborghini vehicle in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was investigated to have gambled on the same site.

Mr. Shin was moving after completing the pre-trial detention hearing (warrant review) at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, in August last year. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 4th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Criminal Mobile Unit, in cooperation with the Financial Crime Investigation Unit and the Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit, announced that they arrested a total of 99 people, including 61 individuals such as the chief operator of the illegal gambling site and 30 related to illegal leading rooms, and sent 4 of them (2 detained) for prosecution while investigating the source of funds of Shin and Hong. The police applied charges of opening gambling spaces to 14 people, including domestic chief A and Shin, and plan to additionally arrest 2 accomplices residing in Cambodia to add charges of organizing a criminal group against a total of 16 people.

They are accused of setting up a complex gambling site charging and exchanging office in Cambodia from June 2020 to March of the following year, operating gambling funds worth approximately 860 billion KRW from about 8,000 people. They recruited ghost corporation bankbook recruiters, distributors, and charging and exchanging office staff through advertisements using social networking services (SNS), lived together in a house in Cambodia, and committed crimes in connection with domestic distributors. The main operators imposed strict internal rules on employees, forced compliance, and used methods similar to violent organizations, including collectively assaulting members of other groups. They also threatened organization members that they would definitely retaliate if caught by investigative agencies and testified about their crimes.

A group of people in their 20s and 30s involved in operating an illegal gambling site having a peer gathering.
[Image source=Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency]

The police have been investigating suspicions that Shin, the suspect in the Apgujeong Rolls-Royce case, was active in the MZ gang 'MT5' and earned large sums of money from online gambling sites. However, MT5 turned out to be an electronic trading platform used for overseas futures investment, not the name of an organization. Nevertheless, they committed crimes such as operating illegal leading rooms and acting as agents for overseas futures investments, collecting 2.1 billion KRW in investment funds and fees from 101 investors, and 38 people were arrested. The police found no evidence that Shin was involved in operating illegal leading rooms.

The police arrested 30 people, including 28 individuals such as the leading room operating organization and overseas futures company representatives on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act (unauthorized investment brokerage business), and 2 people who provided USIM cards for money on charges of violating the Telecommunications Business Act. Among them, 2 are also charged with fraud for embezzling 3.2 billion KRW by promising to sell coins on consignment. Additionally, 8 people were arrested on charges including violation of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act for deceiving victims by hacking 'MT4' (the previous version of MT5) using customer information obtained after leaving the leading room operating organization, promising to recover losses from overseas futures trading, and embezzling 340 million KRW.

Among the suspects who participated in opening illegal gambling sites or gambled, 9 were confirmed to be organized crime members under police supervision. It was investigated that they spent most of the criminal proceeds on supercar rental fees, entertainment expenses, and so on. A police official stated, "This arrest is a case that confirmed the reality of new types of criminal organizations lurking behind society, triggered by the Rolls-Royce driver incident," and added, "We will continue to collect intelligence and conduct investigations on the criminal forces behind social issues."