The police have requested arrest warrants for 59 suspects who were repatriated from Cambodia to South Korea.
Koreans involved in an online scam in Cambodia and detained there were repatriated through Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport on the morning of the 18th. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
On the 20th, the National Police Agency announced that it had applied for arrest warrants for 59 out of 64 suspects repatriated from Cambodia. Four were released without a warrant application, and one, for whom an arrest warrant had already been issued, was taken into custody.
By region: ▲ All 45 suspects under the jurisdiction of the South Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency had arrest warrants requested and filed ▲ Of the 15 suspects under the Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, warrants were requested and filed for 11 ▲ The single suspect under the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency had a warrant requested and filed ▲ The single suspect under the Gimpo Police Station had a warrant requested and filed ▲ The single suspect under the Wonju Police Station did not have a warrant requested ▲ The single suspect under the Seodaemun Police Station in Seoul did not have a warrant filed.
The prosecution decided not to request an arrest warrant for one of the 59 suspects, resulting in their release. The repatriated individual, referred to as "A," is under investigation by the Seodaemun Police Station for allegedly providing their bank account and other resources to an investment scam group.
Between July and September, the police received information from Cambodian authorities that a local phishing call center had been raided, along with a list of Korean suspects. Subsequently, the South Chungcheong and Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agencies were designated as the main investigative bodies and have continued the investigation.
The South Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency has been investigating romance scams, investment scam chat rooms, voice phishing, and no-show scams that occurred from late last year until July of this year, while the Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency is investigating romance scams that took place between March and April of this year.
The police stated that during post-repatriation questioning, three to four suspects testified that they had suffered confinement or assault by members of the scam organization, and the facts are currently being verified.
All repatriated suspects tested negative in preliminary drug screening, and more detailed tests are currently underway.
The National Police Agency plans to investigate all aspects of the Cambodia case, including the circumstances of entry and exit, the structure of the criminal organizations, the status of scam centers, broker organizations, the extent of confinement and other damages, and possible drug use.
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