Ministry of Justice Requests Extradition of Couple Behind 12 Billion Won Romance Scam from Cambodia

The government has requested the Cambodian authorities to extradite a Korean couple who orchestrated a 12 billion won (approximately 8.8 million USD) 'romance scam' operation based in Cambodia.

According to the legal community on October 22, a prosecutor and an investigator from the Ministry of Justice's International Criminal Affairs Division, who were dispatched to Cambodia, met with the Cambodian Vice Minister of Justice the previous day and requested the extradition of the couple in their 30s, referred to as Mr. and Mrs. A.

The couple is accused of using deepfake-generated virtual personas to approach more than 100 individuals of the opposite sex via chat apps from March last year to February this year, defrauding them of 12 billion won through investment scams.

The couple was arrested locally in Cambodia in early February but was released once in early June. Subsequently, at the end of July, the Korean Ministry of Justice sent investigators to Cambodia, who, together with local police, arrested and detained the couple again. However, due to delays in extradition negotiations, they were released once more.

Previously, the Ministry of Justice requested the extradition of criminal suspects from Cambodia in the first half of this year, but Mr. and Mrs. A were not included in the list for extradition at that time.

In addition to the extradition of the couple, the Ministry of Justice also requested the Cambodian authorities to provide investigative records related to the death of a university student, to cooperate with the scam response center, and to offer assistance in the recovery of criminal proceeds if requested in the future.