CCTV 1000 Cameras Used to Catch Gold and Silver Shop Robber, Turns Out to Be a Police Officer? ... Money Transactions on Gambling Site Revealed

Active Police Officer Breaking Jewelry Store Display Case with a Tool
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] A current police officer who broke into a jewelry store in Gwangju last month and committed theft remains 'silent' about the motive for the crime, while the police have confirmed that he accessed an online gambling site and conducted money transactions.

According to the Gwangju Police Agency and Gwangju Nambu Police Station on the 10th, the Nambu Police Station is investigating the case after securing records showing that Im, a 47-year-old police sergeant belonging to a police box under the Seobu Police Station, who was arrested on the 8th on charges including special theft, had accessed gambling sites and conducted money transactions in the past.

The Nambu Police Station sent related materials to the Gwangju Police Station and reportedly requested supplementary investigations into the operators of the gambling site.

Earlier, Sergeant Im is accused of breaking into a jewelry store in Wolsan-dong, Nam-gu, Gwangju, around 4 a.m. on the 18th of last month, breaking glass windows and display cases with tools, stealing precious metals worth about 25 million won within one minute, and fleeing the scene.

He targeted a jewelry store located just a two-minute drive from a police box under the jurisdiction of the Nambu Police Station where he worked from 2014 to 2015. He took leave on the day before (the 17th) and the day of the crime (the 18th).

In particular, based on his experience working at the Gwangju Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) Integrated Control Center from 2017 to 2018, Sergeant Im carefully chose to move only in suburban areas with lax CCTV surveillance. After the crime, he covered his private car’s license plate with black tape and wandered around areas such as Jangseong, Yeonggwang, and Hampyeong in Jeollanam-do for over four hours, showing meticulous planning.

This case, which seemed to fall into a dead end due to the meticulous crime, was traced by the police who continuously reviewed about 1,000 CCTV videos, catching a lead within 20 days.

Sergeant Im stated that he committed the crime to obtain a loan of about 190 million won borrowed under the pretexts of purchasing a house and child support. However, when asked by reporters, "Did you steal the precious metals because of gambling debts?" he denied it, saying "No." Nevertheless, his acquaintances testified that "Sergeant Im was in debt due to online gambling and other reasons."

On the morning of the 8th, at the Gwangju District Court in Dong-gu, Gwangju, Police Inspector Im Mo, a current police officer involved in a gold and silver shop theft, is returning to the transport vehicle after the warrant hearing.
[Image source = Yonhap News]

Additionally, after the Nambu Police Station confirmed Sergeant Im’s gambling site access records and money transaction details, the claim that his actual motive for the crime was to pay off gambling debts has gained weight.

However, the Nambu Police Station has only disclosed that Sergeant Im broke into the jewelry store and stole precious metals due to large debts, without revealing specific details of the crime or motive.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Im is also suspected of attempting to monitor investigation trends by entering the internal reading room of the control center with the help of fellow officers on the 23rd of last month, five days after the crime, as well as going to work as usual the day after the crime.

After it was revealed that Sergeant Im continued to report to his affiliated police station and performed local security patrol duties even after the crime, online public opinion surged with criticism, saying, "He has abandoned even the minimum professional ethics expected of a police officer."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.