Of 73 South Korean crime gang members forcibly repatriated after committing scams and hostage robberies in Cambodia, arrest warrants were sought for 72.
The Korean National Police Agency National Office of Investigation (NOI) said on the 25th in a media notice, "Of the 73 for whom arrest warrants were requested, warrants were sought for 72 and prosecutors declined for one."
Until July last year, member A, who impersonated global financial firms such as "Janus Henderson" at a call center office in Cambodia and extorted 19.4 billion won from 229 people, had an arrest warrant issued. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's mobile investigation unit secured custody and is under investigation.
Fifty-four people, including 49 members of a "no-show scam" ring transferred to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency anti-corruption and economic crimes investigation unit, will undergo a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (substantive warrant review) on the afternoon of the day.
A husband-and-wife scam ring escorted to the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency anti-corruption and economic crimes investigation unit on suspicion of using deepfakes for a romance scam to extort about 12 billion won from 104 people was also included.
Seventeen members under investigation by the South Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency mobile investigation unit on suspicion of defrauding about 5 billion won from some 30 victims through a romance scam are scheduled for a substantive warrant review on the afternoon of the 26th.
For one suspect in a small-amount direct-transaction scam handled by the Changwon Jungbu Police Station in South Gyeongsang, prosecutors returned the warrant at the prosecutorial stage, judging the alleged crime to be minor. It was determined that this suspect had a separate arrest warrant executed for a small-amount fraud case and that the Gimpo Police Station in Gyeonggi is currently investigating.
An interagency task force (TF) on the 23rd repatriated 73 crime gang members who, based in Cambodia, swindled about 48.6 billion won from 869 South Koreans, and the next day applied for arrest warrants for all of them.