South Korean police shut down network of unlicensed gambling sites with turnover of more than $3.8 billion

South Korean police have uncovered a large international network of unlicensed online casinos operated from the Philippines.

According to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency, 14 people have been arrested, including the alleged organiser of the scheme. Seven of them have been remanded in custody.

According to the investigation, from September 2024 to March 2025, the criminal group operated a number of illegal websites broadcasting videos from overseas casinos. The websites were used for real-time gambling, and their combined turnover reached $3.8 billion.

The leader of the group, who had previously been convicted of organising gambling, developed a new scheme while in prison. After his release, he assembled a team of programmers, developed his own platform for online casinos, and launched a network of 266 websites. He entrusted the management of the sites to his subordinates, who transferred ₩3 million (about $2,200) to him every month as an ‘administration fee.’

To increase profits, the perpetrators registered a fictitious vendor company in the Philippines, through which they directly received casino videos and gaming currency from foreign gaming providers.

The investigation began after the police received information from an operator of one of the websites who had been detained earlier. By tracing the cash flows, investigators tracked down the organisers. As a result, key participants were arrested and ₩480 million was seized, including ₩278.4 million in cash from a storage room (approximately $332,000) belonging to five participants, with an additional ₩3.3465 billion (approximately $2.314 million) seized pending trial.

It is known that two members of the group managed to leave the country and are now wanted by Interpol.

The authorities note that this is one of the largest operations against illegal online gambling in South Korea. According to them, the network operated internationally, using offshore companies and money laundering schemes.