Nine South Korean civil servants have been accused of promoting a notorious scam themed around an illegal sports betting site that promised gamblers “guaranteed returns.”
Police are investigating after a Chuncheon City Hall audit found evidence that the civil servants helped dupe hundreds of South Koreans out of a combined total of over $18.2 million, the South Korean broadcaster G1 News reported.
The group is accused of promoting a site named GM Ball, which purported to offer punters reverse betting options.
In sports betting, a reverse bet, also known as an action reverse, is a wager that links two or more individual bets. Placing reverse bets allows bettors to effectively back both sides in team sports matches, provided they front double the stake.
South Korean Civil Servants Recruited Victims for Scam Site
Police have been investigating the site’s alleged operator for several weeks and have now shut it down.
Detectives say the operators “inflated membership numbers” by “guaranteeing high returns.” They told gamblers they could earn extra money by referring new site members.
In fact, police said, the site turned out to be a Ponzi-type scam. A police spokesperson says over 800 victims have been identified nationwide.
Four of the site’s alleged masterminds fled to Thailand. Police later repatriated all the suspects.
Chuncheon is the largest city in South Korea’s Gangwon Province.
The auditors say multiple victims have been identified in Gangwon. They said their investigations “confirmed that Chuncheon City officials also used the site to place bets.”
All nine city officials used the site, auditors said, with an unspecified number of the accused also “acting as local recruiters.”
These officials “enrolled citizens and fellow civil servants,” with some receiving high-end smartwatches as a reward. At least one of the civil servants placed bets worth almost $6,800 on GM Ball.
One of the accused told investigators: “The operators threatened to freeze our funds, so we started to recruit our acquaintances.”
Police Probe Continues
Chuncheon City Hall has issued disciplinary actions against its civil servants.
Three have had pay cuts, and five have been reprimanded. Officials issued a formal warning to another individual.
This may not be the end of the matter, however, with police continuing a separate investigation.
Most forms of online sports betting are illegal in South Korea. The sole exceptions are state-run horse racing sites and Sports Toto.
The latter offers sports pool-type betting, capped at 100,000 won (around $70) per day.
In recent months, South Korean media outlets have reported that scores of teens are now using stolen ID cards to gamble on Sports Toto.
Many of these teenagers say they have become “addicted” to sports betting.
