Serving Tea, Inflating Liquor Bills by Billions: 61 Arrested in Busan Fake Liquor Bar Syndicate

Targeting Mobile Phone Passwords

Abuse Against "Bikki" Organization Members

Scheme Exposed by Six Members Voluntarily Reporting

A criminal organization that lured heavily intoxicated male patrons into entertainment bars, made them drink fake foreign liquor, extracted their mobile phone passwords, and then inflated and diverted the bar bills has been busted by the police.

Within the organization, acts of violence and abuse occurred, including forcing employees wishing to leave to self-harm or confining them in vehicles.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency’s Metropolitan Crime Investigation Unit announced on September 9, 2026, that it had apprehended 61 individuals, including the leader who organized a criminal syndicate operating out of five entertainment bars in the Seomyeon area of Busan and carried out large-scale fraud totaling billions of won. One individual has been taken into custody.

From April 2022, they are accused of dividing roles among the five bars in the Seomyeon area—such as ringleader, manager, madam, waiter, street tout, and female host—and jointly committing these crimes.

According to the police, touts would lure heavily intoxicated men, usually drinking alone, into the bars. Female hosts would serve them drinks until they fell asleep. Waiters would then mix the remaining foreign liquor with tea or other substances to create counterfeit liquor, serving it as if it were a new bottle.

Drunk patrons collapsed after consuming counterfeit whiskey at entertainment bars in 2024.
[Image source=Busan Police Agency]

When the customers became inebriated, the perpetrators would prompt them to use internet banking or card payment, thereby obtaining their mobile phone patterns or passwords. While the victims were unconscious, the organization would transfer or withdraw much larger amounts than the actual tab, using the acquired financial information.

The police analyzed business ledgers and transaction records and confirmed about KRW 3.5 billion worth of fake liquor sales. Over about a year and a half, they identified over 1,000 potential victims, but statements confirming harm were obtained from 58 victims, estimating losses at about KRW 100 million.

The majority of the victims were middle-aged men who were reluctant to report or testify for fear of their attendance at entertainment establishments becoming known. Nonetheless, after the police’s persistent persuasion, they secured their victim statements.

The criminal organization also used violence to control its own members. Gang members from the Busan area acted as managers, enforcing rules by beating employees who broke internal regulations or failed to meet their quotas and forcing them to self-harm in acts of abuse.

In 2024, at a gym in Busan, members lifting heavy barbell plates are being forced to use treadmills.
[Photo by Busan Police Agency]

The scheme came to light after six members, unable to endure violent attacks from higher-ups, voluntarily reported the crimes to the police. During this process, evidence emerged that the ringleader had discovered the whistleblowers’ actions and confined them inside a vehicle. Assessing the urgency, the police tracked the car and, working with the 112 control center and local police stations, apprehended the ringleader.

The ringleader was taken into custody on charges including aggravated assault, and 45 members of the organization were arrested. Sixteen representatives of unregistered hostess agencies supplying female hosts to the bars were also apprehended. For the five entertainment bars found manufacturing fake liquor, the police notified the National Tax Service about unlicensed liquor production.

During the investigation, it was also revealed that members held strategy meetings to coordinate their statements in favor of the ringleader during court proceedings. Some initially denied involvement or changed their testimonies, but after additional police investigation, most, including the ringleader, confessed to the crimes.

Two accomplices who fled abroad immediately after the ringleader’s arrest have been placed on Interpol’s red notice list. Additionally, a member who attempted to provide the fugitives with getaway funds using Tether, a cryptocurrency, was caught. The police seized approximately KRW 200 million in escape funds and obtained a pre-indictment asset freeze order from the court to cut off the organization’s financial resources.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency announced that it will continue its investigation into additional accomplices and the details of the crimes.

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