In October, Olympian Nam Hyun-hee posed with her future husband Jeon Cheong-jo for a popular magazine in South Korea. The famous Olympian fencer’s fiancé presented himself at the time as an heir to a wealthy family. This public appearance ultimately led to the downfall of Jeon, who not only appeared to be a female rather than a male but it was uncovered that she was involved in a number of scams.

Shortly after, the engagement between Jeon and Nam was broken off. The public appearance raised quite a few eyebrows of Jeon’s victims, whom she allegedly stole millions from. In November, she was arrested amid an investigation into fraud and false representation.

The photo shoot from the magazine also uncovered that Jeon was involved in different criminal activities primarily related to scams even before her romance with Nam. This led to police authorities confirming her criminal background and biological sex, revealing that although she identified as a man, Jeon hasn’t undergone the official procedure required for sex change in South Korea.

Fraudulent Activity Results in Prison Sentence

After the arrest, Jeon was recently sentenced to prison over fraud. Local media outlets confirmed that the Seoul Eastern District Court sentenced Jeon to 12 years in prison after she was found guilty of defrauding 27 people out of 3 billion won ($2.2 million).

Presenting herself as the heir of the owners of the Paradise Group, a leading hotel and casino company in South Korea, she misled investors. The prosecution found out that Jeon misled investors by offering lucrative opportunities that are only available to the country’s wealthiest families.

As a result, she defrauded nearly 30 victims out of a staggering 3 billion won. During the investigation, it was uncovered that Jeon presented herself both as a male and female in an effort to pursue her victims.

According to prosecutors, Jeon used the fraudulently obtained funds for a lavish lifestyle. However, she claimed that some of the money was spent on gifts that were given to Nam.

Considering those claims, an investigation into the 42-year-old Olympian fencer is also ongoing. It is yet to be confirmed whether or not Nam was aware of Jeon’s fraudulent activities and if she was involved in any way.

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The Lazarus Group, notorious for its cyber attacks and believed to be linked to North Korea, is under the spotlight once more after a high-profile Australian-based casino was hacked.

This Lazarus Group allegedly pilfered $41 million in digital assets from the cryptocurrency casino and sports betting website Stake.com, as disclosed by the FBI on Thursday.

Stake.com, endorsed by celebrity Drake, previously labelled the incident as a series of transactions as “unauthorized transfers.” In the wake of this cyber onslaught, they quickly informed their user base that an in-house investigation was being initiated.

Detailing its findings, the FBI released addresses of numerous digital wallets suspected to hold the stolen funds. The bureau shared that the Lazarus Group meticulously moved the stolen cryptocurrency through various platforms.

The Lazarus Group’s modus operandi appears consistent with their prior activities. The FBI highlighted the parallels between this heist and other recent significant thefts. Notably, they reportedly pilfered $100 million from Atomic Wallet in June, followed by a staggering $60 million from Aplhapo and CoinsPaid projects in July.

Their illicit activities have caused significant disruption in the crypto landscape. The analytics powerhouse, Elliptic, announced in June that the Lazarus Group’s cumulative thefts amounted to an astronomical $2 billion in digital assets.

In an alarming disclosure last year, the US Treasury Department connected the dots between the Lazarus Group and a $622 million hack. This exploit targeted the Ronin Network, an Ethereum sidechain instrumental for the crypto game Axie Infinity, marking it as one of the grandest digital heists ever.

The Lazarus Group has continuously evolved its tactics to stay undetected. Its interactions have significantly affected Tornado Cash, a coin-mixing protocol. Touted as a privacy-centric tool by its proponents, Tornado Cash fell under the scrutiny of the Treasury Department. Last year, it faced allegations of aiding in the laundering of a whopping $7 billion in cryptocurrency.

Upholding these restrictions, a federal court in July deemed the usage of Tornado Cash illegal in the U.S. Furthermore, the U.S. Justice Department made a significant arrest in August, detaining one of the co-founders of the protocol.

Roman Storm, the arrested individual, now faces a slew of charges. These include conspiracy to commit money laundering, transgressing sanctions, and orchestrating an unlicensed money-transmitting operation.

Stake.com was founded by Australian entrepreneur Ed Craven with it quickly becoming one of the biggest crypto gambling websites that accepts sports bets and allows casino play.

Despite Stake.com having an office in Melbourne, the casino site is not accessible to Australians, with real money casinos generally homed overseas because there are no local licenses available.

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South Korea has a problem with youth gambling. Unfortunately, the matter seems to only get worse as some minors have begun stealing to fuel their habits.

Gambling-related crime is nothing new and, unfortunately, is a prevalent problem. Throw in some minors into the mix and you get a recipe for disaster. Recent reports show that South Korean teenagers would sometimes bully their peers and steal from them in order to gamble.

The Korean Herald reported that in a recent case in Sejong City, a group of middle school students bullied a classmate for gambling money. According to the report, they would threaten the other teen into giving them the money. The money they got from each extortion ranged from KRW2,000 to 20,000 ($1.52 – $15.2). The total sum they took is still unknown.

The bullied student’s parents told investigators that the bullies forced their boy into giving his bank account, which they used to play online. The teenagers would use the account to sign up for various gambling sites and benefit from the welcome promotions.

The Parents Will Seek Legal Help

The constant bullying prompted the bullied teen to seek the help of a psychologist. In the meantime, his parents have hired a lawyer and intend to take the matter to court. As a result, the bullies face charges of robbery and repeated assault.

The Sejong City Office of Education hopes that matters will not escalate further. The body will try to talk the involved families into reaching a peaceful solution. If no agreement is reached, the school’s violence committee will be responsible for handing punishment to the wrongdoers. In addition to the charges, the students might get expelled from their school.

Asian Casino Revenues Skyrocketed in 2023

In more positive news, South Korea’s foreigner-only casinos continue to grow in 2023. For example, Paradise Co, one of the biggest local operators, reported an impressive 130% year-on-year revenue increase to $32.5 million in March.

This is in line with the favorable trend that has seen Paradise Co’s profits skyrocket in Q1, 2023. For reference, the first three months of the year saw the operator’s profits soar 152% year-on-year, reaching $103 million.

Asia as a whole has been enjoying a positive rise in revenue, with Macau’s results rebounding after the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s Zero-COVID policy. In March, for example, Macau’s concessionaires saw their collective revenues increase by 250% year-on-year, surpassing the March 2023 results by a large margin.

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