UAE authorities arrest three South Koreans over alleged KRW3.1tn gambling operation

Three South Korean suspects accused of running an illegal online gambling business from abroad have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates, according to South Korean police. The arrests followed a joint investigation with authorities in the UAE. Two of the suspects have been repatriated to South Korea.

Police in South Korea say the three fled the country a decade ago, in 2016, and are accused of running betting sites worth KRW2.6tn ($1.95bn) from places such as the Philippines and Malaysia. Investigators further suspect that the man described as the ringleader, along with his deputy, treated the UAE as a staging ground for hiding from the law and for washing substantial criminal profits.

The sting was given the name "Halak", which is Arabic for "destruction". South Korean investigators worked alongside UAE authorities on the operation, whose aim was to detain the people accused of belonging to the group.

Authorities say the operation depended on numerous helpers. A developer of gambling software, described as an accomplice, was discovered to be connected to another online betting business worth KRW500bn ($347m). The group is also accused of bringing middle school students into its scheme.

While on the run, the suspects are accused of living in luxury, according to authorities. The same sources say the group brought famous Korean celebrities to the Middle East and were frequent patrons of upscale entertainment venues, and that the second-in-command is alleged to have ties to a well-known television personality.

President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea thanked the UAE's leader for his government's help in detaining the alleged ringleaders. Lee credited the arrests to close work between the UAE government and South Korea's interagency task force on transnational crime, and stressed that fleeing abroad does not let criminals escape justice.

Writing on X, Lee pledged that his government would hunt fugitives without letup, return them to South Korea and seize their illegal gains. He also said authorities would keep acting decisively against transnational crime so that the public's everyday life is protected.

In a recent crackdown, South Korean authorities moved against 26 individuals who used Polymarket to trade, since the government considers such activity unlawful.