A group that lured users to illegal gambling sites by using illegal sites that distributed sexual exploitation material as bait and pocketed hundreds of billions of won in criminal revenue was arrested by police.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's cyber investigation unit said on the 12th it referred A, 40, and B, 36, to prosecutors in custody on charges including violations of the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse and the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes. The police plan to request an Interpol red notice for C, 54, the overall leader and underboss of a crime syndicate staying overseas, and D, 53, the manager, and are currently investigating the remaining accomplices.
From Aug. 2019 to Aug. 3 this year, they are accused of building a gambling site solution called "AGA Global" in places including Pasay City, the Philippines, and using it to operate and promote illegal sexual exploitation material distribution sites and other gambling sites.
According to police, they managed two illegal obscene material sites, 18 gambling sites, and 587 distributors. Over five years, the total amount wagered on the gambling sites they managed was about 4.7 trillion won, and even after excluding withdrawals from deposited funds, police assessed they obtained unjust gains worth 47.6 billion won.
Because the tally covers only unjust gains related to operating the gambling sites, excluding advertising revenue, police believe the scale of unjust gains will grow if the kingpin is apprehended.
They directly operated the illegal obscene material sites to steer users who came to view sexual exploitation material into the gambling sites. The two illegal obscene material sites had more than 116,000 videos posted and about 2.85 million registered accounts. Cumulative views of the posts totaled about 5,353.59 million.
A took charge of operations locally in the Philippines, and B, who holds a doctorate in computer engineering, handled overall development, management, maintenance, and repair of the sites. B evaded investigative tracking by using virtual servers and continually changing access addresses.
Police launched an investigation after a women's group filed a complaint in Nov. last year urging punishment of the operators of two obscene material sites. They then identified the suspects through international cooperation with the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Europol of the European Union (EU), and others.
A, who lived in the Philippines, was designated for an Interpol red notice and was caught on an airplane at Incheon Airport on the 2nd while attempting to enter Korea. B was arrested at a residence in Korea on the 3rd after a warrant was issued.
Police blocked access to and shut down 10 of the illegal obscene material and gambling sites they operated, rendering them irrecoverable. Follow-up measures are underway for the remaining sites.
Police will continue to track the suspects who fled overseas and will seek pre-indictment confiscation and collection preservation of the criminal revenue.
Police also plan to announce this month an integrated response plan to illegal sites, including forming a pan-government consultative body with the Korea Media and Communications Commission and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.