Customs authorities have launched an investigation into three casino operators in Seoul and Busan for allegedly engaging in illegal foreign currency trading.
The three firms are Paradise Casino Walkerhill, Paradise Casino Busan and the Busan unit of Grand Korea Leisure, according to the Korea Customs Service.
Paradise Casino Busan was found to have performed irregular foreign exchange trading worth about 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion), followed by Paradise Casino Walkerhill with 500 billion won and Grand Korea Leisure with 100 billion won.
Inspectors said Paradise Casino violated the laws on foreign currency trading by providing gambling chips by credit to customers who later repay the borrowed money to the company’s overseas branch.
Grand Korea Leisure’s Busan Lotte Hotel casino has been suspected of exploiting gambling payment brokers between the game dealer firm and a group of foreign customers.
By Kim Yon-se (
kys@heraldcorp.com)
