A key operator of the large illegal filming site "AVMOV," which has been distributing secretly recorded videos and photos of the bodies of family members, acquaintances, and romantic partners, has been handed over to prosecutors. The site's membership was found to be 540,000.
The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said at a regular press briefing on the 1st that it referred without detention a man in his 30s, identified only as A, an AVMOV operator, on suspicion of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.
According to police, A, together with B, a member of the top management in his 40s, has been operating AVMOV since Aug. 2022, distributing videos of sexual intercourse and nude photos of family members, acquaintances, and romantic partners, and taking in criminal revenue worth several hundred million won.
AVMOV is an illegal site that was operated to allow members to exchange videos secretly filmed of family members or romantic partners' bodies with each other or download them through paid purchases. Membership was found to be about 540,000.
Police detected the site during online monitoring in Dec. last year, then conducted a preliminary inquiry and launched a full investigation.
Once the investigation began, the operators left for Thailand and went into hiding. While proceeding with procedures to invalidate their passports, police urged them to return through their attorney, and they entered the country via Incheon International Airport on the 11th of last month. Police arrested them at the airport without a warrant.
Police sought arrest warrants for A and B, and afterward B was handed over to prosecutors in custody on the 21st of last month.
However, prosecutors returned the warrant for A, requesting supplementary investigation. The court later also dismissed the arrest warrant for A. Earlier, the court explained it considered "the degree of involvement in the crime, fixed residence, and the lack of any notable criminal record."
In addition to the operators, police have booked eight more suspects at the operator level and are currently investigating. Police plan to hand them over to prosecutors in sequence as soon as the related investigation is completed.