Police: 27 arrested for South Korean online gambling operation

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- A random encounter at a South Korean bank teller machine has spurred the arrest of 27 suspects in an illegal online gambling site, authorities said.

Seoul's Bangbae district police told reporters Wednesday a 45-year-old suspect with the surname Park was among those arrested, local television network SBS reported.

Park began to operate the site "Gangnam Baduki" using an overseas server in Tokyo, South Korean authorities said. The server was active from May to August and earned $53 million in revenue from about 2,000 users who accessed the site to play cards on high-stake bets.

South Korea has strict online gambling laws, and online casinos are outlawed.

Park collected fees through more than 100 fake bank accounts that were created with stolen identities, officials said, and made money by charging a 10 percent "exchange fee."

Police said the fees alone drew in $11.2 million and other revenue was collected through a 1 percent fee charged on each bet on the site, according to local newspaper Hankyoreh.

The suspects used Chinese messenger service WeChat to bypass local authorities, police said.

Authorities apprehended Park's partner, surnamed Moon, on Aug. 22 in Seoul's Seocho district when they noticed suspicious activity at a bank ATM while on their way to lunch, an official spokesman said.

Investigators said Moon repeatedly withdrew cash from the machine, possibly from different bank accounts.

The suspects would withdraw their earnings once an account reached about $10,000, police said.