'Staged Arrest' by Police... Gang Arrested for Extorting $1 Million Under the Pretext of Covering Up the Case

'Setup Crimes' Trapping Victims Abroad

A gang that pretended to be involved in a crime overseas and extorted 1 million dollars (about 1.3 billion KRW) from the victim under the pretext of settling the case was caught by the police.

On the 20th, the International Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that they have arrested five individuals, including Mr. A (63), on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (extortion). They are suspected of extorting approximately 1.3 billion KRW under the pretext of settling cases through 'setup crimes' overseas. The suspect is transferring part of the criminal proceeds through a bank. Photo by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

On the 20th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that they had arrested five people, including the ringleader Mr. A (63), on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (extortion). Four of them were detained. Additionally, three people, including Mr. B (50), who laundered the criminal proceeds, were booked on charges of violating the Act on the Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment.

According to the police, they are suspected of fabricating a crime crackdown situation in Cambodia around the end of June and extorting 1 million dollars from the victim Mr. B by promising to settle the case.

Police investigations revealed that Mr. A selected Mr. B, whom he knew through a golf club, as the target. During a golf trip to Cambodia, Mr. A staged a scenario where Mr. B was arrested for involvement in a prostitution case. Before the arrest, Mr. A took Mr. B to a bar and introduced him to a local woman, inducing him to engage in prostitution. It is reported that Mr. B did not actually have sexual relations with the local woman.

Subsequently, a person presumed to be a local police officer staged the arrest of Mr. B, but the entire situation was fabricated by Mr. A and his accomplices. They hired a local person presumed to be a police officer through a Korean national broker, Mr. C (51), who is based in Cambodia, and acted as if Mr. B was caught in a crackdown. Mr. B was actually detained at a local police station. When Mr. A told Mr. B, "It seems you were arrested on prostitution charges. You could serve 5 to 10 years in prison. You need to pay money to be released," and demanded money to settle the case, Mr. B transferred 1 million dollars to a domestic account presented by the gang.

Furthermore, Mr. A recruited three people, including Mr. B, to launder the criminal proceeds. After returning to Korea, they visited 34 banks in the metropolitan area, converted all the criminal proceeds into cash, and distributed the profits. When the victim became suspicious, they attempted to prevent reporting by proposing to share the settlement money and returned 500 million KRW from the criminal proceeds.

The police view this case as a typical "setup crime," where the victim is trapped and money is extorted under the pretext of settling an investigation. It is known that Mr. A has a prior conviction for a similar setup crime committed overseas.

The police began the investigation in mid-July, identified the suspects involved through flight records and call logs, and arrested them. They also identified the broker Mr. C through cooperation with the police attach?. Mr. C is known to have lived in Cambodia for over 10 years and operated a massage shop. The police have invalidated Mr. C’s passport and issued an Interpol red notice. Regarding the local person presumed to be a police officer, the police notified the relevant national police agency through Interpol and requested joint investigation cooperation. A police official stated, "We will strengthen intelligence activities against crimes targeting our citizens overseas, centered on the international crime task force, and actively crack down on illegal activities."

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