Huge $1.4B South Korean Illegal Gambling Ring Busted

South Korea has been able to dismantle one of the world’s largest gambling rings, with the country’s Busan Metropolitan Police Agency (BMPA) reporting on the record-setting bust.

The bust has also led to the arrest of multiple people, with 23 people apprehended as part of the crackdown, but no names have been revealed. However, the police confirmed that the person behind the ring, identified only as “Mr A.” has been among those arrested.  

South Korean Illegal Gambling Ring Busted 

Interestingly, the person was an Asian Games medalist, police shared, but stopped short of identifying him any further. 

The $1.4 billion generated by the illicit gambling operation ran from April 2022 through September 2025 and was headquartered in Busan, having a clear-cut corporate structure and management. 

The twist is that the operation was not accepting wagers on its own behalf but was rather placing wagers at illegal gambling websites on behalf of people who wanted to use a proxy.

The operation was sophisticated enough to avoid detection, using different IPs and staking on various outcomes to boost a client’s chances of success, with the illegal ring alone generating $2.4m.

Furthermore, the ring was aware that police may soon be onto them, so it rented out eight office-hotels and was constantly shifting operations in order to make it harder for potential law enforcement investigations to take hold. 

One of Main Suspsects Supposedly Hightails It to the Philippines 

In a sense, this proved an efficient strategy as the ring remained undetected until police received a tip that the venues were used as a large-scale illegal gambling operation. 

Subsequent investigation and raids yielded the present results. Police are also looking for another suspect who is believed to have fled to the Philippines.

“We have requested an Interpol red notice for another ringleader who fled to the Philippines and the organization that runs the gambling site,” an official statement read.