South Korea Dismantles Major Mule-Account Ring Laundering Funds for Illegal Gambling

According to The Chosun Daily, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Unit announced on Thursday that 59 individuals had been arrested in connection with the scheme, with seven of them formally detained. Among those held is a man in his 30s, identified only as Mr A, who is believed to have masterminded the network.

Police said the ring began operating in June 2023, targeting jobseekers through high-paying part-time job platforms. Recruits were offered KRW 1 million (about $720) per month simply to “rent out” their bank accounts. Once obtained, the group sold these accounts to money-laundering syndicates for as much as KRW 3 million each, and charged KRW 130,000 per day for their use, generating significant illicit revenue. In total, investigators confirmed the sale of 101 accounts.

To prevent what they called “run-offs”—cases where an account holder might withdraw the laundered funds and disappear—the organisation demanded extensive personal information from recruits. This included identification documents, family relationship certificates and delivery records, all used as leverage to control participants.

In one instance, when a member fled after withdrawing KRW 220 million, Mr A’s enforcement team allegedly tracked him down, assaulted him, shaved his head and circulated a video of the incident on Telegram as a warning to others.

The ring also infiltrated legitimate financial institutions to avoid detection. Police arrested a bank insider, a man in his 20s identified as Mr B, who worked in the call centre of a major first-tier bank handling voice phishing complaints. Mr B is accused of accessing internal systems to verify wire transfer accounts, then selling that information to the syndicate for KRW 300,000 per case.

In total, 58 suspects are being prosecuted under the Criminal Organisation Act, with some also facing charges of joint coercion and special robbery for their role in violent enforcement actions. Mr B faces charges under the Financial Real Name Transaction Act.

Police seized luxury vehicles worth KRW 640 million, jewellery, and other high-value items, and have already filed for pre-indictment asset recovery totalling KRW 1.75 billion in suspected criminal proceeds.