Men linked to Myanmar fraud hub charged in South Korea over romance scam
The Straits Times
Five suspects were indicted in detention while three were charged without arrest. Read more at straitstimes.com.
SEOUL – South Korean prosecutors have indicted several young men accused of working for a romance scam ring based in Myanmar, part of a growing network of overseas fraud operations targeting South Korean victims.
The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office said on March 11 that nine men, aged 23 to 34, who operated out of a crime compound known as KK Park near the Myanmar-Thailand border were charged with joining and participating in a criminal organisation.
Five suspects were indicted in detention while three were charged without arrest. One additional suspect remains at large.
Prosecutors said the men joined a romance scam network operating inside a crime enclave in Myanmar run by a Chinese ringleader who organised fraud operations targeting South Korean victims.
The suspects carried out various roles within the organisation, including call-centre operators who contacted victims, recruiters who brought in new members and supervisors responsible for managing South Korean participants in the scheme.
The authorities said several of the suspects later returned to South Korea and joined domestic voice-phishing groups as money-laundering agents.
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