Gang Referred to Prosecutors for Making Illegal Gambling Sites and Distributing Game Currency for Billions in Profits

Seized items related to the creation and management of illegal gambling sites. [Photo provided by Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency]

Nine individuals were apprehended by the police for creating and distributing illegal gambling sites targeting Korean nationals and circulating game currency. Of these, three have been detained, while six have been sent to the prosecution without detention.

On September 15, the Cyber Investigation Division of the Gyeongnam Police Agency announced that it had arrested and referred to prosecution seven people, including Mr. A, a developer in his 40s who served as the head of a gambling site development company, as well as two individuals, including Mr. B, also in his 40s, who headed a vendor company that sourced sites from the developer and distributed them to individual gambling site operators.

According to the police, these suspects divided roles in the creation, management, distribution, and circulation of gambling sites, supplying both the systems and the game currency required for the illegal operation of these sites.

The developers are suspected of developing systems that integrate live video feeds from overseas online casinos into the illicit gambling sites, thereby enabling domestic users to place bets on casino games via these sites.

The vendor company is accused of acting as a distributor of sites and game currency between the developers and individual site operators. They are alleged to have subdivided 31 sites sourced from the developer company to operators and purchased large quantities of betting game currency, commonly referred to as "Eggs," which they then sold for gambling purposes.

Seized items related to illegal gambling site production and game currency distribution. [Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency]

The developer company was found to have created and managed 153 illegal gambling sites, receiving 2.18 billion won in payment from June 2023 to April 2026.

It was also confirmed that the vendor company received 270 billion won from May 2024 to December 2025 from the sale of game currency and related proceeds.

Police stated that, after receiving intelligence about Mr. C, a vendor company team manager in his 30s, in December 2025, they tracked the supply routes and money flow, sequentially apprehending members of the group through July this year.

In addition, the police blocked access to 22 operational sites managed by the developer through the Korea Communications Standards Commission, and have issued a red notice for two accomplices who fled overseas.

After the suspects were apprehended, the police confirmed that access through domain names to the remaining sites was no longer possible.

The police applied for and obtained a court order to freeze approximately 1 billion won in criminal proceeds from the vendor company, as confirmed through account analysis, before indictment.

A police official stated, "Cyber gambling is a serious crime that causes numerous societal problems," and cautioned the public to be especially vigilant not to respond to solicitations to join or use gambling sites through social network services (SNS) or similar channels.

The official added, "We will focus our investigative resources on a special crackdown against illegal cyber gambling that will continue until October 31."

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