Ringleader of 4.8-trillion-won illegal gambling network extradited from UAE after 12-year flight

The ringleader of a large-scale illegal gambling syndicate that operated multi-trillion-won gambling websites from overseas has been extradited to South Korea following international cooperation by the government. The operator of a separate 500 billion won ($322 million) illegal gambling site was also brought back, giving fresh momentum to investigations into cyber-gambling organizations operating from abroad.

The pan-government joint transnational crime special response task force said Friday it had worked with UAE authorities to apprehend two top-level suspects in an illegal gambling site operation and extradited them to South Korea through Incheon International Airport that day.

Suspect A is accused of running illegal gambling websites worth approximately 4.8 trillion won, using Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines as a base, and laundering the proceeds. After fleeing overseas in 2014, the suspect moved between the Philippines, Malaysia and Cambodia to evade investigators before being apprehended in the UAE 12 years into the flight.

Suspect A also faces charges of evading 66 billion won in taxes in connection with the gambling site operations. Additional charges include providing and using narcotics and soliciting prostitution. Investigators also plan to look into a possible connection to the death of a South Korean national in Malaysia in 2018.

Suspect B, extradited alongside A, is accused of recruiting middle and high school students to work in illegal gambling operations and running a gambling site worth approximately 500 billion won. Suspect B was also apprehended in the UAE.

Illegal gambling syndicates based overseas often distribute their servers and money-laundering networks across multiple countries, making international cooperation a critical factor in any arrest.

The pan-government joint task force said it had successfully tracked the suspects' whereabouts through prolonged intelligence analysis and international cooperation, and had mapped out the flow of criminal proceeds and the suspects' networks of accomplices.

The task force added that even as South Korean carriers restricted flights due to the impact of war in the Middle East, UAE authorities cooperated to repatriate the suspects on a local carrier.

"This arrest demonstrates our resolve to pursue fugitives who commit crimes from abroad to the very end, as well as our capacity for international cooperation," the government said. "We will continue to track down and apprehend cyber-gambling organizations that carry on their criminal activities overseas."

forest@heraldcorp.com