Home > National > Social Affairs

Police arrest 114 members of Cambodia-based crime ring

Published: 03 Nov. 2025, 14:06

The photo released on Nov. 3 shows one of the suspects being extradited through Incheon International Airport after police arrested 114 members of a Cambodia-based crime ring that posed as military units, political parties and the presidential security service to carry out fraud schemes. [YONHAP]

A total of 114 members of an international crime ring that posed as military units, political parties and the presidential security service to commit fraud from a base in Cambodia were arrested, police said on Monday.

Authorities from the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency said that they investigated 560 fraud cases nationwide and arrested 114 Korean and foreign members of a crime ring on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, Etc. of Specific Economic Crimes. Police detained 18 of them.

The case became a major investigative focus late last year after the group impersonated military units, political parties and the presidential security service to defraud victims by taking advance payments for goods and then cutting off contact, according to police.

Police investigated 560 related cases nationwide — 402 involving impersonation of military units and 158 involving political parties or the presidential security service — with total damages amounting to 6.9 billion won ($4.8 million).

Fraud cases involving the military were most common in Gyeonggi with 80 cases, and Seoul saw the highest number of political and presidential security impersonation cases at 32.

Once investigators identified Sihanoukville as the organization’s hub, the Gangwon police coordinated with the Korean National Police Agency, Interpol and the National Intelligence Service to raid a call center in Cambodia and arrest key suspects.

Those arrested included leaders, managers, call center operators, money launderers and technicians who maintained communications relay devices. About 80 percent of the suspects were in their 20s or 30s, and four were teenagers. Women accounted for 25 percent of the group.

A criminal enclave in Cambodia is surrounded by barbed wire and high walls on Oct. 23. [YONHAP]

The organization’s top leaders, referred to as the “executive group,” ran a call center in Cambodia that oversaw both the money laundering network and the relay system. The call center consisted of separate departments: One impersonated the military and government bodies, while another sold fake military supplies.

The overseas money laundering team worked with Korean members to transfer victims’ funds through Korean cryptocurrency exchanges and move them to overseas platforms. Technicians managing relay equipment frequently changed locations in Seoul and Gyeonggi to avoid police detection.

“Public institutions never request proxy purchases or advance payments,” said Choi Hyun-seok, the commissioner of the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency. “If you receive a request for a contract or purchase on behalf of an agency, always verify it through the organization’s official phone number.

“Many young people are lured into such schemes by false promises of overseas jobs or short-term [and] high-paying work. Offers that promise unusually high profits can lead to secondary crimes like abduction or confinement, and those involved may face heavy sentences as accomplices to fraud.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]