Police are currently investigating Kangwon Land, the country’s only casino open to Korean citizens, over allegations that some of its workers were running a scheme to fix card games.
Police officers of Jeongseon in Gangwon Province on Friday have requested arrest warrants from the prosecution for two casino maintenance staff for installing micro-cameras on card shuffling machines at game tables in order to read the cards before they are dealt.
Officers have raided the office of the two to secure the problematic card machines, computers, cars and their telecommunications records.
The investigators said one of the maintenance workers, teamed up with a regular customer and ordered his subordinate to install a tiny camera on a card shuffler at a baccarat table.
They said one of the workers would read the cards before they were dealt with the camera and notify the gambler, who is believed to have made more than 800 million won. The maintenance staff were promised 10 percent of the profits. The scheme is believed to have continued for more than three years.
The scam came to light when another gambler reported his suspicions to the casino management on Monday. The casino management said it found another camera on a different baccarat table.
Investigators suspect that gangs from Hong Kong or Japan may have been involved in the scam.
“Baccarat is a game with many players betting at the same time and chances are high that a gang orchestrated the scheme. We have referred the two problematic card scramblers to the National Forensic Service,” an investigator said.
The police are also looking into whether more casino workers were involved since it took more than 10 hours for management to report the discovery to the police, which would have been an enough time to destroy key evidence.
Casino management said they were considering shutting down the facility for one or two days for an inspection.
“We have formed an emergency committee to prevent the recurrence of this mishap. We have also asked the executives to resign,” Kangwon Land CEO, Choi Hung-jip, told the reporters. This is the first time the management has considered a shutdown since the casino opened on Oct. 28, 2000.
By Bae Ji-sook (
baejisook@heraldcorp.com)
