Probe is ongoing
South Korean police are probing alleged high-roller gambling at “share junket houses” outside the country that cater to VIPs, including “celebrities and star athletes,” according to CalvinAyre.com.
The website says the rooms are suspected of being run by Korean mobsters and their remote hosts.
The Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office has grilled two reputed mobsters caught running a share junket house in Macau that serves South Korean businessmen and people of note.
The Korean JoongAng Daily quoted a prosecutor saying the police hadn’t yet officially launched an investigation, but were looking for “direct evidence that the brokers exchanged casino chips and financial logs that show they paid the gamblers.”
South Korean law exacts stiff penalties on those who habitually gamble overseas or gamble large amounts. But locals who want to play have limited options. Only one of South Korea’s 17 casinos allows nationals to play, and that’s the Kangwon Land Casino, located in the remote mountains of Gangwon-do.
