Crackdown on South Korea's Largest 'Daepo Bank Account Supply Organization' Causing Damage Worth 1.47 Trillion Won

Gangwon Police Arrest 82 Members
Established 150 Ghost Corporations... Opened 320 Fake Bank Accounts
Applied 'Crime Syndicate Organization Charges'

Bank accounts seized by the police.
[Photo by Gangwon Police Agency]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] A group that supplied forged bank accounts worth 1.4 trillion KRW, the largest scale in the country, has been completely dismantled by the police.

The Gangwon Provincial Police Agency's Voice Phishing Investigation Unit announced on the 28th that they arrested 10 core members of the forged bank account supply organization and a total of 82 people, including subordinate members.

They are suspected of supplying forged bank accounts to overseas voice phishing and cyber gambling criminal organizations from 2015 until recently, earning approximately 7.2 billion KRW in criminal proceeds.

Police investigations revealed that they established 150 shell corporations and opened more than 320 forged bank accounts to supply forged bank accounts. The amount of victim funds deposited into these illegally distributed forged bank accounts reached 1.47 trillion KRW, the largest scale nationwide for a single organization. Among this, 685.6 billion KRW (107 accounts) was from voice phishing victims, 737.7 billion KRW (119 accounts) from cyber gambling accounts, and 57.9 billion KRW (9 accounts) from internet goods fraud, among others.

They exploited the fact that limited liability companies can be easily established without proof of capital payment and that multiple accounts can be opened under the corporation's name by setting up shell corporations. Unlike personal accounts, only the accounts used in crimes were suspended, while other accounts continued to be used, which was also abused.

In particular, they created a code of conduct within the organization, and the leader, Mr. A, pretended to be a businessman running a general business to hide his identity even from members. To reassure accomplices imprisoned in jail, they managed members at a level reminiscent of organized crime by paying lawyer fees and providing family living expenses. To evade investigation agencies, 25 members of the organization used 516 forged phones to communicate or commit crimes.

Additionally, to establish shell corporations, they purchased names from 57 name lenders by paying 3 million KRW per person, established shell corporations, and opened forged bank accounts by visiting banks nationwide. They sold each forged bank account to criminal organizations such as voice phishing groups for 1.2 million KRW per account. It was also revealed that they managed these accounts by providing new accounts in connection with criminal organizations even after sales.

The police applied the crime of organizing a criminal group under the Criminal Act to them and seized six vehicles purchased with criminal proceeds, 36 luxury clothing and luxury bags worth approximately 53 million KRW. Additionally, they preemptively confiscated and preserved criminal proceeds worth about 450 million KRW before prosecution.

Park Geun-ho, head of the Gangwon Voice Phishing Investigation Unit, explained, "We are strengthening crackdowns on forged items such as forged bank accounts and forged phones, which are essential for criminal organizations, and are conducting follow-up investigations on Philippine voice phishing organizations and cyber gambling organizations confirmed to have used forged bank accounts supplied by this group."

He added, "There is an increasing number of people lured by advertisements such as 'high-income part-time job' and 'buying names' on the internet who get involved in crimes," and urged, "Please be especially careful as selling your ID cards such as resident registration cards, driver's licenses, or bank accounts to others, lured by high-income part-time jobs, can be punishable."

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