Arrests Expose YouTuber as Promoter of Gang-Owned Illegal Horse Betting Site

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency arrested 29 people believed to be part of a criminal enterprise allegedly running an illegal horse betting site; out of the suspects, six were taken into custody.

The site operators were among the arrested.

It is believed they had been receiving the help of a horse racing YouTuber with 10,000 followers, through whom they used text ads and referrals to obtain more site members.

The police speculate that the gang began operating in Korea in 2022 till near the end of 2024.

The criminals had allegedly been streaming horse race footage without the permission of the Korean Race Authority, and by the end had made approximately ₩170 billion ($121.4 million).

Connected by Crime

At its peak the the site’s members had reached over 17,000, out of them about 140 were charged with gambling violations, amongst them was another YouTuber who supposedly only participated in the gambling.

Allegedly, the YouTuber made over 116 bets, worth more than ₩214m ($151,622), as for most of the others being charged, each is believed to have bet over ₩5m ($3,542).

There are suspicions of the involvement of another criminal organization in charge of gambling fund deposits and withdrawals, which was being paid commissions between 0.3% to 1%.

Operating in Other Countries

The investigation into the group was launched last year in June by both the SMPA and the KRA after the police received Intelligence on the group’s activities.

The group often used burner phones and fake names to avoid risking detection.

Reports suggest that two years ago, they moved their base of operations to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to continue their illegal operations away from possible interference in their original starting point of Ilsan, Gyeonggi.

“All online horse racing websites other than the official KRA service are illegal, and users may be prosecuted for gambling,” stated an official of the police.