Operating an illegal online gambling site using IT expertise... 34 people arrested, including the leader

A group of people who used their expertise in the information technology (IT) field to run an illegal online gambling site worth tens of billions of won were caught by the police.

The Chungnam Police Agency's metropolitan crime investigation unit announced on the 14th that it had arrested 34 people, including Chief A (in his 40s), on charges of opening a gambling space, and detained 13 of them.

21 people who participated in the call center operation or lent accounts to them were booked without detention.

Mr. A and others are suspected of opening and operating three internet gambling sites with servers located overseas from May 2023 to March of last year.

A total of 1,300 members were found to have engaged in illegal gambling, including baccarat and sports Toto, on the site.

Through this, it was found that the total stake received by Mr. A's group amounted to 56.8 billion won.

Among them, 10.3 billion won in profits was laundered under the pretense of a normal gift certificate transaction.

Mr. A's group committed crimes by systematically dividing roles into program management, crime proceeds management, and call center operation.

The 13 people arrested include Mr. A, the program manager, people in charge of crime proceeds management and laundering, and call center workers.

In particular, key organizational members, including Mr. A, were experts in the IT field who majored in computer engineering.

The police explained that some had experience studying abroad.

They were concerned that their crimes would be revealed if they outsourced server maintenance and management, so they directly performed related tasks based on their expertise.

The server was placed overseas to make it difficult for investigative agencies to track.

We also rented several officetels in Gangnam, Seoul and operated a 24-hour call center with three shifts.

The call center performed tasks such as managing stake deposits and withdrawals, sending notices, and receiving complaints from users.

It was discovered that Mr. A and others lived a luxurious life, driving expensive imported cars and purchasing luxury watches with the proceeds of crime.

The police confiscated 300 million won worth of cash and 700 million won worth of luxury watches and bags from them.

In addition, a total of 6.74 billion won worth of criminal proceeds were collected and preserved before indictment against the chief executive officer (approximately 2.4 billion won) and the programmer (approximately 2.5 billion won).

Access to gambling sites was blocked.

A police official said, "We will continue to investigate those who provided crime tools such as bankbooks and cell phones to Mr. A's group, as well as gambling operators, and we will track down and recover the proceeds of the crime until the end."