South Korea: Dozen Ex-casino Workers Charged in $3.5M Scam

A dozen people, who used to work for a casino in South Korea are facing criminal charges over their involvement in a $3.5 million scam, a new report reveals.

Investigation Uncovers $3.5 Million Scam

The criminal charges are related to allegations of crimes dating back to 2017. Overall, 12 people, formerly employed by Daegu Casino, received criminal indictments on Monday, according to a report released by GGRAsia. The fraudulent activity involved a sum of KRW4.5-billion ($3.5 million).

Before raising the criminal complaints, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with the District Prosecutor’s Office, conducted an investigation, details of which were released last month. Now, following the investigation, the District Prosecutor’s Office raised criminal complaints against the former casino workers.

Allegations Include False Shuffling, Card Swapping

The scam involved card swapping, false shuffling, as well as a practice called malfeasance. One Japanese player was allegedly scammed by dealers that used card swapping and false shuffling in July 2017. Two Chinese nationals who played baccarat at Daegu Casino were allegedly scammed using the same method in September 2017.

On the other hand, two of the men, who used to hold positions as senior bosses, borrowed KRW9.1 billion ($7 million). From that sum, KRW6.45 billion ($4.9 million) were then given to one senior casino executive without the required security checks. The unlawful practice, also referred to as malfeasance was allegedly completed in 2017.

Accused dealers that participated in the scam were offered complimentary services valued at KRW230 million ($176,000) by two individuals described as senior bosses and two casino executives. In exchange for the complimentary services, dealers had to scam the players, prosecutors allege.

Suspects Are Currently Not Detained

Of the dozen people involved, the prosecutors described that two were senior bosses, while other two were executives. Additionally, the scam involved four casino dealers, as well as four individuals described as salespeople. The names of the alleged participants of the scam were not disclosed and for the moment, they are not detained.