A group that installed illegal online gambling programs in adult PC rooms and profited from them has been apprehended by the police.
On May 1, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Criminal Investigation Unit announced that it had arrested and referred 37 individuals, including the operators of the gambling sites, to the prosecution on charges such as establishing gambling venues.
Five individuals, including distributors responsible for installing the gambling programs and handling currency exchange, as well as the CEO of a payment gateway (PG) company who conspired to distribute virtual accounts for gambling deposits, were detained and referred to the prosecution. Approximately 1.12 billion won in criminal proceeds was preserved for confiscation prior to indictment. One operator who fled and one virtual account vendor have been placed on a wanted list.
They are accused of operating illegal online gambling sites through adult PC rooms from October 2023 to February 2024. The operators advertised the illegal online gambling programs to adult PC room owners nationwide via social networking services (SNS) and then installed and operated the programs.
Recently, as procedures for issuing bank accounts have become stricter, making it difficult to use fraudulent accounts, they turned to virtual accounts. When suspicious transaction reports were filed with financial institutions, they evaded detection by disguising the transactions as "refund requests for clothing sales" and similar explanations.
A police official stated, "When a PG company conspires with illegal operators to distribute virtual accounts for gambling sites, it becomes virtually impossible to manage or supervise such activities," and added, "It is necessary to establish a legal basis that allows for criminal sanctions if violations are found, by thoroughly verifying everything from the issuance of virtual accounts to the business status of virtual account merchants."
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