Police on Oct. 20 applied to prosecutors for arrest warrants for 59 of the Korean nationals extradited from Cambodia. Four of the extradited nationals were released.
According to the Korean National Police Agency on Oct. 20, police applied for arrest warrants for 59 of the 64 suspects extradited to Korea. Four were released without a warrant application. One already had an arrest warrant issued and was taken into custody immediately.
Prosecutors did not request a warrant from the court for one of the 59 for whom police sought arrest warrants. As a result, a total of five of the 64 extradited were released.
The person, identified as A, for whom prosecutors did not seek an arrest warrant is under investigation by the Seodaemun Police Station in Seoul on suspicion of providing a bank account and other items to an investment tip chatroom scam ring. The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office considered how the person left the country, the fact that the person sought help from the Cambodian Embassy after being confined, and that the person reported the case to local police in Cambodia.
The South Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency applied for arrest warrants for all 45 extradited individuals. The Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency applied for warrants for 11 of 15. The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency and the Gimpo Police Station each applied for a warrant for one person, and the Wonju Police Station did not apply for a warrant for one person. The Seodaemun Police Station applied for a warrant for one person, but it was returned.
The South Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency has been investigating romance scams, investment tip chatrooms, voice phishing, and no‑show scams from late last year through July this year, while the Northern Gyeonggi agency is investigating romance scams that occurred in March–April this year.
In the course of questioning the extradited individuals, police said three to four stated they were victims of confinement and assault by members of Cambodia's scam compound organizations, and authorities are verifying the facts. Although these individuals were detainees in the criminal compounds, they are also accomplices or perpetrators who committed crimes such as phishing targeting Koreans.
With the consent of the extradited suspects, police conducted preliminary drug reagent tests, and all results were negative. Detailed testing is underway.
The Korean National Police Agency plans to thoroughly investigate not only the criminal facts but also ◇ the circumstances of entry and exit ◇ the structure of the criminal organizations ◇ the status of the scam compounds ◇ labor supply and brokerage organizations ◇ the status of local kidnapping and confinement victims ◇ whether drugs were used, and other overarching suspicions related to the situation in Cambodia. The agency also plans to focus on securing leads on overseas accomplices and domestic linked organizations to devise measures to prevent and crack down on phishing crimes.