Police bust Cambodia mule account ring

A criminal ring that trafficked mule bank accounts has been dismantled after authorities uncovered a scheme that lured account holders to Cambodia, held them captive and, in some cases, subjected them to torture. The operation thrived as black-market prices for mule accounts climbed to as much as 20 million won each.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Wide Area Investigation Unit said Tuesday that it had arrested the 30-year-old ringleader and 11 associates based in South Korea and Cambodia on charges including violations of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act and illegally luring people overseas. Six suspects were taken into custody. Nine account holders who created and handed over the accounts were also arrested. Mule accounts, opened under another person's name and sold or rented to others, are commonly used by criminal organizations to evade detection.

From July through October last year, the group advertised on Telegram and other platforms, offering up to 45 million won to people willing to open bank accounts as a condition for traveling abroad. The ads even specified banks whose online banking services worked smoothly overseas, claiming those accounts fetched higher prices. People who responded were sent airline tickets and flown to Cambodia.

The promised payments never came. Instead, the victims were confined to their lodgings, threatened, assaulted and forced to hand over their bank accounts. Some were held for as little as two weeks, while others remained captive for up to six weeks. One victim secretly filmed the accommodation and transportation routes on a cellphone but was caught. He was then beaten and tortured in front of the other victims, and footage of the abuse was shared among members of the criminal group.

The accounts were later sold to voice phishing groups for between 10 million and 20 million won apiece. According to investigators, the ringleader used the proceeds to pay team leaders, managers, recruiters and other operatives monthly wages of 2 million to 4 million won. Recruiters also earned bonuses of 1 million to 2 million won for each account holder they delivered. Accounts registered under an individual's name typically sold for about 5 million won, while corporate accounts with transfer limits in the billions of won fetched around 10 million won. Prices, however, have risen sharply in recent years.

The organization also prepared scripts for account holders to memorize in case their accounts were flagged by a bank's Fraud Detection System, or FDS. If transactions were frozen, account holders were instructed to call the bank and provide rehearsed explanations to have the restrictions lifted. The group even covered overdue mobile phone bills to prevent accounts from being frozen because of unpaid charges.

Police are tracking two remaining members believed to be in Cambodia. "We will continue pursuing them through measures including passport invalidation and Interpol Red Notices," said Park Gu-rak, head of the sixth division of the agency's Wide Area Investigation Unit. He warned that selling or lending bank accounts is itself a criminal offense and urged the public not to be tempted by promises of easy money.


김다인 기자 daout@donga.com