Online gambling ring leader caught

The group of Korean nationals who organized online gambling after committing crimes in the Philippines chose Vietnam as their refuge. Two members of the network were arrested shortly after returning to Korea. The remaining member, the most important link in the network, was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Public Security in coordination with the Ho Chi Minh City Police.

According to initial documents from the authorities, a group of Korean nationals organized an online gambling website from March 2013 to early November 2013 in the Philippines and from November 2015 to January 2016 in Vietnam.

Although Kwon Yonggil is still young (34 years old), he has quickly proven to be an experienced member of the network. Kwon Yonggil is responsible for managing the money of the closed network of customers, while Oh Junghyun and Kim Myungun are assigned to manage the website, responsible for collecting and transferring money to customers. After committing the crime in the Philippines, the subjects went to Vietnam to hide under the guise of tourists and research the market.

Kwon Yonggil reported his crime to the police.

They rented a house in Vietnam to continue organizing online gambling. The group collected money from players and the distribution was decided based on the results of football matches. There were also players who guessed the correct score and were paid by the subjects, but they picked the pockets of other players by cheating money from players who guessed the wrong score. By the above tricks, the subjects illegally earned more than 16 billion won...

Having identified the criminal acts of the above-mentioned group of subjects, the Korean Police sent a dispatch requesting the Vietnamese Police to arrest the subject Kwon Yonggil, with passport number M02376084, carrying an international Interpol wanted notice No. A-3102/4-2016 dated April 12, 2016 of the Interpol General Secretariat for the crime of violating the law on sports promotion.

Assigned by superiors, the Criminal Investigation Department coordinated with the Foreign Affairs Department, professional units under the General Department of Security and units under the Ministry of National Defense, Hanoi City Police, Ho Chi Minh City Police and key areas to conduct searches and arrest the subjects.

During the screening process, the detectives paid special attention to industrial zones and key areas where foreigners temporarily reside, work, live and travel in Vietnam; at the same time, they mobilized people to denounce crimes.

At noon on May 17, a Korean man with characteristics similar to the wanted person was discovered entering a luxury apartment complex. The task force coordinated with the Tan Phong Ward Police, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City to conduct a search.

The screening process determined that the Korean living in that apartment building was the wanted subject Kwon Yonggil. The plan to arrest the subject was carried out by the working group in coordination with the ward police. The police force announced the international wanted notice to the subject and requested that the subject comply with the issued order.

The task force contacted the Korean Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City about the arrest of the subjects and requested that the Consulate send someone to work with Vietnamese authorities. According to the initial statement of subject Kwon Yonggil, the subjects rented a house to continue committing crimes in Vietnam; the subjects Oh Junghyun and Kim Myungun were arrested upon returning to Korea.

On May 18, the Criminal Investigation Department announced that it had handed over the file and internationally wanted suspect Kwon Yonggil to the Office of the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency for handling according to its authority.

According to CAND