“Enticed by providing stock information”… Arrest of a group of people who ran a 110 billion won online gambling house

Panoramic view of Busan Police Agency. [사진 부산경찰청]

A group of people who gathered investors by opening a so-called ‘stock reading’ group chat room that provided investment information and then induced them to bet at an online gambling house was caught. At this online gambling house, which was pretending to be a normal futures investment exchange, stakes worth 100 billion won were exchanged.

KRW 113 billion, which was thought of as an investment, was gambling money.

The Busan Police Agency Cyber ​​Crime Investigation Unit announced on the 12th that it arrested 36 people on charges of luring thousands of investors to online gambling houses using stock investment information as bait and tricking them into betting on gambling by pretending it was a normal investment (violation of the Capital Markets Act). Among them, 10 people, including Mr. A (30s), the head of the domestic gang and former organized crime member, were arrested. The gang is accused of recruiting 6,270 investors based at home and abroad, including Incheon, Cambodia, and Vietnam, from July 2022 to April of this year, and then having them gamble at an illegal online gambling house with a stake of 100 billion won.

The organizational chart of Mr. A, who ran an illegal online gambling house set up as a futures exchange. Photo: Busan Police Agency

According to the police, Mr. A’s group impersonated stock investment experts and gathered investors through KakaoTalk group chat rooms. Afterwards, investors were encouraged to visit sites linked to futures trading information in normal markets such as Nasdaq in the United States. On the surface, it appears to be an online exchange where actual investments are made, but in reality, it is said to have been operated without permission.

Investors invested money in the expectation that the price of a specific stock in the futures market would rise or fall according to Mr. A’s daily guidance. However, these accounts were only cannon accounts secured by Mr. A’s group and were not connected to actual futures market investments.

However, the daily wage returned money in proportion to investors who guessed the price fluctuations, making it look like there was an actual investment profit. The investor’s money that failed to guess correctly was stolen by Mr. A’s group, and the investor reportedly regarded this as a loss. In this gambling hall, 113 billion won in stakes were exchanged in this way, and Mr. A’s group was found to have made 11 billion won in illegal profits through this.

According to the police, the victims deposited between several million won and up to 1.7 billion won per person, with one person reportedly earning 200 million won by spending as much as 400 million won. A police official said, “To actually invest in futures, you need about 30 million won in margin per account and must also undergo required training. However, this site made it seem like you could easily invest in futures and earn a high interest rate with just a margin of 300,000 won,” he explained.

An overview of the crimes committed by Mr. A and his group, who operated an online gambling house set up as a futures exchange. Photo: Busan Police Agency

Former gangster leader mobilizes MZ gangsters as well
The police investigation revealed that Mr. A’s group also hired gang members in their 20s and 30s. Mr. A, the domestic leader, is a former gangster and was well aware that young gang members called ‘MZ gangsters’ were interested in making new money by breaking away from the past profit model such as business management. It was found that Mr. A’s group hired three young gang members based in the Gyeongnam region, secured Daepo bank accounts and Daepo phones necessary for operating an online gambling house, and entrusted them with money laundering and other tasks.

Lee Gyeong-min, head of the cyber crime investigation unit at the Busan Police Agency, said, “We closed down the site operated by Mr. A and his group and recovered 860 million won of the proceeds from the crime. “The National Tax Service has been notified of data related to tax evasion by one party,” he said, adding, “We are tracking three people, including Mr. B, another general manager, who fled overseas with Interpol.”

Reporter Kim Minju [email protected]