Gang Operating Illegal Gambling Site with Betting Amounts in the 50 Billion Won Range Arrested

Gambling Using Donghang Lottery Drawing Results... No Daily Limit

A group involved in opening and operating illegal gambling sites using the Donghaeng Lottery drawing results was arrested en masse by the police. Photo by Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] Forty-five people, including operators of illegal gambling sites with total bets reaching 50 billion won, were arrested by the police.

The Life Safety Division of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency announced on the 15th that a man in his 40s, Mr. A, was detained on charges of opening gambling spaces, violating the Special Act on the Regulation and Punishment of Speculative Acts, and violating the Lottery and Lottery Fund Act. A man in his 30s, Mr. B, was booked without detention and sent to the prosecution. Additionally, 43 others were criminally charged for operating game rooms using programs received from them.

They are suspected of opening and operating illegal gambling sites using the results of Powerball, a draw-type electronic lottery of Donghaeng Lottery, from September last year to April this year. Mr. A and others reportedly set up an office in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and paid a monthly usage fee of 3 million won to the program creator while providing the program to 243 game rooms nationwide.

The Donghaeng Lottery, managed and operated by the government, has a purchase limit of 100,000 won per person per draw and 100,000 won per day, but on the illegal gambling sites, bets of up to 2 million won per round were allowed, with no daily limit.

As a result, the total amount bet over the past eight months reached approximately 50 billion won. After receiving related intelligence in February, the police conducted a crackdown on a game room in Hwaseong City in cooperation with the Gambling Industry Integrated Supervision Commission and launched a full-scale investigation. Following the successive arrests of Mr. A and others, the police traced accounts to identify 209 million won in criminal proceeds, applied for seizure preservation, and obtained a court approval decision.

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