Judge Chang Jae-young of the Suwon District Court’s Criminal Division 6 sentenced 30-year-old Lee, the organizer of the illegal gambling scheme, to 2 years and 6 months in prison and a fine of 200 million won ($138,000) on March 3.
His four accomplices were sentenced to 1 year and 2 years and 2 months imprisonment and fined 200 million won (US$137,000), 182.5 million won (US$125,000), 25 million won (US$17,000) and 30 million won (US$20,500) each, respectively.
“Considering that they either directly established the gambling site or were deeply involved in its operation from the beginning and gained substantial criminal proceeds, severe punishment is inevitable. However, Lee and the others have generally realized their guilt and expressed remorse, so this has been taken into account when imposing the punishment.”, said Judge Chang.
The investigation found that they rented offices in Gwonseon (Suwon), Ansan, and Guri (Gyeonggi) districts to operate websites and set up several illegal gaming platforms. They organized a system in which website users transferred money to fake accounts and then those funds were converted into gaming currency for gambling.
During the trial, Lee claimed, “I was not the organizer, but merely an employee.”
Judge Chang noted: “Lee not only distributed the criminal proceeds to his accomplices but also procured fake bank accounts and phones needed for site operation. He played a key role in setting up and running the gambling site, so he cannot be considered just an employee involved in the crime.”
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