Authorities in the Philippines have arrested 10 South Korean nationals for running an illegal online gambling operation based out of Manila. The eight men and two women were arrested Tuesday by the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG), which raided several units of a flash condo in Taguig City. Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa said an examination of the computers seized during the raids revealed that the suspects were offering online gambling services to Korean customers who paid for their wagers via credit card and online banking transfers.
Sosa said the PNP-ACG was prompted to act after being contacted late last year by INTERPOL’s South Korean branch, which was seeking the whereabouts of eight individuals believed to have been running an illegal online gambling trade in Seoul before fleeing abroad. Two of the arrested suspects – Lee Youn-ju and Jin Ho-lee – were among those facing outstanding charges in their homeland, while the other six remain at large. The Korean National Police apparently uncovered the operation by following the money bettors were sending to the Philippines.
There’s no shortage of South Koreans who have chosen to base their illegal gambling operations in the Philippines, but the authorities aren’t making it easy for them. A quick glance of this site will find multiple illustrations (here, here and here, to start) of South Korean nationals being clapped in irons after their online gambling operations were rumbled by Philippine police.
As for why South Koreans have proven so willing to break the law, a recently busted illegal casino operator in Japan had a suggestion. Asked why he’d started his illegal Cream baccarat gambling den in Tokyo, which the Tokyo Reporter says earned revenue of ¥15m (US $148k) in the three months the joint was operational, manager Mizuho Yoshino‘s confession put it plainly: “From having worked at a casino previously, I knew it was a profitable business. So I thought I would start my own business.” Not complicated, is it?
