South Korean Police Bust Golf Trip Crime Syndicate Behind ₩1.19 Billion Extortion Scheme

South Korean authorities have arrested 12 members of a sophisticated criminal syndicate accused of luring wealthy individuals on overseas golf trips and swindling them out of nearly ₩1.19 billion (approximately US$850,000) through rigged casino games, sextortion, and elaborate extortion plots.

Among those taken into custody was the group’s alleged 60-year-old ringleader, identified only as “Mr. A” by the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency’s International Crime Investigation Unit. Investigators said the operation began in November 2022 when Mr. A befriended a successful businessman at a golf networking event, later covertly attaching a GPS tracker to the man’s car.

According to court documents, Mr. A told the businessman he had won an all-expenses-paid golfing trip to Thailand as part of a “hole-in-one celebration.” Once abroad, the group encouraged the victim to engage in sexual acts with a sex worker before later claiming she was underage, demanding ₩240 million (US$172,000) to “make the problem go away.”

Between mid-2023 and mid-2024, the syndicate allegedly ensnared at least five more affluent victims, each of whom they met at golf driving ranges. This time, the trips were to Cambodia, where the targets were persuaded to gamble at casinos with rigged games. Police say syndicate members and corrupt casino staff ensured the victims suffered substantial losses.

In one particularly brazen incident, the gang staged a fake kidnapping, convincing a victim that his associate was being held against their will at the casino. The scheme netted ₩680 million (US$490,000) from the man in a single transaction.

Investigators uncovered links to a casino insider who aided the deception, as well as the use of GPS tracking to monitor and manipulate victims. One suspect, a South Korean citizen alleged to be responsible for overseas coordination, remains at large. Authorities have invalidated his passport and requested an Interpol Red Notice to enable his extradition to Korea.

“We consider the crimes by Mr. A’s organization to be the classic form of a ‘setup crime,’ in which innocent people are made to appear as criminals in order to extort money,” the Gyeonggi police said in a statement. They cautioned that such schemes can be particularly effective because victims fear criminal prosecution, which discourages them from reporting the incidents.

“Demanding money by invoking the possibility of criminal prosecution is clearly extortion – do not comply and report it immediately,” they added.

By fLEXI tEAM