A court sentenced a group of individuals to prison for operating an illegal sports gambling website worth around 90 billion won ($61.6 million).
 
The Suwon District Court sentenced a man in his 30s surnamed Lee to two years and six months in prison and ordered him to forfeit 200 million won, according to legal circles on Monday.
 
Four accomplices who were indicted alongside Lee received prison sentences ranging from one year to two years and two months.
 
“The crimes committed by Lee and others pose a significant social threat as they undermine a sound work ethic and encourage gambling addiction,” the court said.
 
“Considering that they either directly established the gambling site or were deeply involved in its operation from the beginning and gained substantial criminal proceeds, severe punishment is inevitable.”
 
The court said that Lee and the others have largely acknowledged their wrongdoing and expressed remorse in explaining the sentencing decision.
 
Lee and his accomplices were brought to trial on charges of operating an illegal gambling website between January 2020 and April last year, allegedly amassing around 91 billion won.
 
Investigations revealed that they had set up offices in Gwonseon District in Suwon as well as in Ansan and Guri, Gyeonggi, to run the gambling operations and create multiple illegal gambling websites.
 
Lee and his associates were found to have divided responsibilities, such as managing revenue distribution, supervising employees and handling customer service. They reportedly converted money deposited by site members into tokens to facilitate illegal gambling.
 
During the trial, Lee argued that he was not operating the gambling site but was merely an employee.
 
The court said that Lee not only distributed the criminal proceeds to his accomplices but also procured burner bank accounts and mobile phones, which were essential to running the gambling site.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]