South Korea busts online betting operation that took $3b in wagers

South Korean police have broken up an online sports betting ring that reportedly handled $3b in wagers in the past three years.

On Wednesday, Korea JoongAng Daily reported that the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency had arrested 16 managers of the betting operation along with 124 subordinates. The alleged ringleader and some 14 other suspects remain at large.

The ring reportedly operated eight different betting websites that handled wagers totaling KRW 3.4t (US $3b) between January 2013 and July 2016 from a clientele of around 200k bettors. The sites accepted wagers up to KRW 1m ($880), while the most popular betting sports were football, baseball and basketball.

The ring netted around KRW 140b ($123m) in profits, only KRW 1.3b of which was confiscated by police. Around KRW 80b was reportedly taken by the ringleader when he fled.