Tim Alper is a journalist who covers betting news and regulation for CasinoBeats. He joined the CasinoBeats team in May 2025. He reports on breaking news and developments in the world of betting, casinos, and...
Read Full BioA court in Daegu, South Korea, has jailed a South Korean woman for embezzling money from her employer to spend on her gambling habits.
The South Korean broadcaster KBS reported that the Daegu District Court sentenced the unnamed woman, aged in her 30s, to one year and eight months in prison for embezzling company funds for illegal gambling.
Prosecutors explained that the woman worked as the head of the management support team of a company based in the city’s Suseong District.
They showed evidence that between May 1, 2023, and December 20, 2024, she transferred 213.07 million won ($149,712) from the company’s bank account into her own accounts.
Prosecution officials explained that she withdrew company funds on 19 occasions, using the money in each case to place illegal bets.
The court also heard that the woman borrowed money from several acquaintances, also to fund her gambling addiction, and failed to pay the cash back on each occasion.
The woman admitted to borrowing 3.6 million won ($2,530) from these acquaintances in February 2025, and not repaying the loans.
The court explained its reason for the sentence, with judges noting that the amount of money involved was large.
The judges also lamented that the damages suffered were irreparable, as the accused had spent most of the money on losing bets.
South Korean Woman Will Spend 18 Months in Jail
The presiding judge, Justice Judge Park Tae-an said, “The company’s funds have not been recovered. However, the court has taken into consideration the fact that the defendant made a full confession of her crimes. She has also reached an agreement with her victims.”
The court concluded that the woman had committed a “serious crime, despite her admission of guilt and the agreements she has since made.”
Similar instances appear to be on the rise in Daegu, one of South Korea’s biggest and most commercially important cities.
In July, the city’s district court also jailed several former employees of the Korea Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives (Saemaul Geumgo) for creating fake bank books and transferring linked accounts to illegal gambling websites.
The court jailed the firm’s former branch manager for four years and fined him 5 million won ($3,512).
A former manager was also jailed for two years and six months. Another ex-employee received a suspended sentence. The court also jailed two intermediaries who helped distribute the bank books.
In September, Daegu police said they had shut down an illegal gambling site that targeted South Koreans. The site had revenues of $36 million and operated from an office in Cambodia.
