South Korean Online Gambling Ring Busted, Six Senior Police Officers Transferred

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PHUKET –  Police Chief Pol Maj Gen Patchara Boonyasit said on Thursday they have arrested eight South Korean men in raids on two locations in Muang district for running an online gambling network for Korean people.

Phuket police chief Pol Maj Gen Patchara Boonyasit told the Bangkok Post on Thursday a tourism business had been used as a front for the gambling operation.

Police searched a commercial house and a condominium unit in tambon Vichit after being advised the two residences were used for online gambling. The items they seized included 60 South Korean bank books, computer equipment, mobile phones and 60,000 baht cash. The bank books recorded transactions worth around 100 million baht.

All suspects would be charged with operating an illegal online gambling house, Pol Col Somkid said.

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Meanwhile, Six senior officers at Bangkok’s Huai Khwang police station have been abruptly transferred to inactive posts after a police raid on an online gambling operation.

Seven South Korean nationals were arrested on charges of operating an illegal sports betting network. Investigators said the gang had operated in Bangkok for more than three years before being caught, taking in as much as 90 million baht a month.

The network was uncovered when a combined team from the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) and Huai Khwang police station, armed with a search warrant, raided a room on the 19th floor of the Belle Grand Rama 9 condominium off Ratchadaphisek Road.

Police have charged the seven Koreans with unlawfully operating online gambling, illegal entry, and working illegally in the country. They were being held at the Huai Khwang station while authorities contacted the South Korean embassy.

Pol Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri, the national police spokesman, said the Metropolitan Police Bureau subsequently signed an order to transfer six senior Huai Khwang officers to assist with work at the agency.