Two faces of casinos

Two faces of casinos
Kangwon Land struggling, Seven Luck thriving
By Kim Tae-jong

Casinos here are either only for Koreans or only for non-Koreans. But this exclusive access is now making a huge difference, although people go there with the same hopes of hitting the jackpot.

Kangwon Land, the sole domestic casino complex accessible to Koreans, is always associated with negative images of corruption, bankruptcy, family breakdowns and gambling addiction. And it is under heavy government regulations, civic scrutiny and criticism by media.


But foreigner-only casinos draw totally different responses. They are considered tourist attractions and new sources to earn foreign currencies.

Such distinctive images have also resulted in different outcomes in profits.

Kangwon Land saw a decline in sales last year for the first time since its establishment in 2000. The casino was established in a move to help miners unable to make an income due to the closure of mines.

[Slot Barns eventually exhaust their supply of local gambling addicts, regardless of location.]

It posted 1.26 trillion won in sales last year, down 3.7 percent from the previous year, due to a drop in VIP guests.

“Our sales declined last year for the first time,” an official from Kangwon Land said. “We believe it was attributed to the decreased visits of VIP guests due to negative news reports about the casino and stricter regulations.”

After news report about some high-ranking government officials visiting the casino, many people are reluctant to go in fear that their visit may be made public, she said.

Kangwon Land has also gone through hard time due to various scandals.

The most recent one involved its staff who allegedly fixed card games, which led the casino to go through a police inspection and it had to shut down the facility for a day for the first time.

In contrast, the nation’s eight casinos for foreigners by two major operators Grand Leisure Korea (GKL) and Paradise Group have seen an increasing number of visitors each year and gained huge profits. Most importantly, they are free from ethical degradation.

GKL, 51 percent owned by the Korea Tourism Organization, now operates Seven Luck Casino at three places _ the Millennium Seoul Hilton in central Seoul, another in southern Seoul and a third in Busan.

“Basically, people have different views on us and Kangwon Land,” an official from GKL said. “They have a more positive image of us, like an exporter.”

Currently, thanks to “hallyu,” or Korean wave, there have been a growing number of foreign tourists here, especially from China and Japan. And they have emerged as a big contributor to foreigner-only casinos.

An official from the Millennium Seoul Hilton also said the casino has a positive impact on the hotel’s sales as guests also stay at the hotel and use its facilities.

“Definitely, the casino brings us benefits and serves as an attraction to the hotel,” the official said.

Paradise Group now runs five casinos, one each at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel in eastern Seoul, the Hyatt Regency Hotel near Incheon International Airport, the Paradise Hotel in Busan, the Jeju Grand Hotel and the Lotte Hotel Jeju. It also operates a casino in Kenya.

Market insiders believe that foreigner-only casinos will post 9.4 percent annual growth with their combined sales soaring 10.8 percent each year, which recorded $830 million last year.

Such analysis has been already reflected in the share prices of the casino operators.

Shares of Kangwon Land increased 2.06 percent Friday to close at 24,750 won but it was a slight gain on a downward trend. The stock has stumbled in the past few months after hitting a high of 28,500 won on Feb. 7.

Meanwhile, GKL shares decreased 1.3 percent Friday to close at 18,500 won but it can as leveling off after its stock price has been on an upward trend since its bottom price of 18,500 won in Feb. 9.

Experts said GKL and Kangwon Land have different prospects due to their different target customers.

“GKL is expected to attract more customers with the increase in inbound tourists while Kangwon Land has already hit its peak,” said Han Seung-ho, an analyst from Shinyoung Securities.

11 Bans for match fixing

London 2012 - South Korea issues 11 life bans for match fixing
South Korea's volleyball association has banned 11 players for life in the latest effort to curb corruption in domestic sport.

South Korean sport has been scandalised by match-fixing allegations in professional football, volleyball and baseball, forcing the Government to declare war on the issue

The Korean Volleyball Federation said the 11 players included four volleyball players from the military athletics team and two women players.

The men were involved in fixing between one and eight matches in the last two seasons for up to 6 million won for each game.

Two women were fined 5 million won each for rigging one game, the Yonhap news agency reported.

"We will increase education for the players and continue to make efforts to prevent a recurrence of match-fixing," Chang Kyong-min, a federation spokesman, was quoted as saying.

Last week, the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office charged 27 baseball and volleyball players, gambling brokers and others for their alleged involvement in corruption.

South Korean football officials recently scrapped a cup competition as part of sweeping changes brought in to avoid a repeat of last year's damaging scandal, which led to nearly 50 players being arrested.

Even motor boating became embroiled, a racer being detained and charged for allegedly taking cash from gambling brokers in exchange for predicting orders of finishes in races.

Reuters

Philippines haven for transnational cyber-crime groups

Philippines now haven for transnational cyber-crime groups—police
By Dona Z. Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—A top Philippine National Police official said the country has become a “haven” for transnational organized crime syndicates involved in cyber pornography, cyber sex dens, illegal online gambling, credit card fraud and identity theft due to weak laws against cyber crimes and the poor technical know-how of law enforcers.

Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr., director of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), said cyber-crime mafias, mostly foreigners, have established their base of operations in the Philippines.

Pagdilao said cyber-crime operators have taken advantage of the PNP’s “organizational and technical incapability” to fight cyber crimes.

While cyber-crime syndicates use sophisticated technology, he rued that “law enforcers in the country are lagging behind in terms of training and equipment.”

Pagdilao asked Congress to prioritize passing the proposed cyber-crime prevention law to address the country’s legal inadequacies.

He also asked the PNP to support the organizational and technical capability build-up of the CIDG’s cyber-crime unit.

Pagdilao said foreign mafias have been running cyber-sex dens and cyber-pornography operations in the country.

He said Korean mafias have been behind illegal online gambling and credit card fraud operations in the country.

Pagdilao said their recent arrest here of a Korean hacker wanted by Interpol revealed that “Korean cyber-crime syndicates are operating almost unhampered” in the country.

Shin Un-Sun, 38, was arrested by operatives of the CIDG’s Anti-Transnational and Cyber Crime Division last October 4 in his hideout in Barangay (village) San Juan in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

He was caught hacking a corporate databank in his laptop at the time.

Pagdilao said the suspect was wanted in the Philippines and in South Korea for large-scale Internet fraud.

CIDG investigators have found that Shin Un-Sun’s group had hacked the servers of the country’s leading telecommunication companies and some private corporations.

Pagdilao withheld the names of the corporations due to pending investigation.

Shin was reportedly jailed in South Korea for three years for hacking the Korean Stock Exchange.

Shin was also accused of hacking the online databank of Hyundai Capital Corp., a Seoul-based financial service company specializing in auto financing, personal loans and home mortgage.

He allegedly blackmailed Hyundai Capital Corp. to pay a huge sum in exchange for his not leaking the account information of 420,000 clients as well as 13,000 passwords from customers’ loan accounts and credit rating information that he had hacked.

Pagdilao said Shin was also able to withdraw large amounts of money from the credit card accounts of hundreds of clients based on data he had stolen from the databank of international and local banks.

Pagdilao said that during their investigation, the suspect owned up to hacking bank and credit card records as well as the e-mails of several defense officials for the past 11 years and to being part of a Korean mafia of hackers.

Shin claimed that he was brought to the Philippines to develop illegal online casino programs that have been in use in the mafia’s illegal operations for years.

Pagdilao said the CIDG has already raided seven of these illegal online casinos operated by Shin Un-Sun’s group.

Pagdilao said the suspect also revealed that Korean mafias have been using Filipinos as “e-mules” for their transnational money laundering and credit card fraud operations.

Worldwide match fixing expands

Israeli club implicated in match-fixing scandal
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police have arrested the owners and a former coach of topflight team Hapoel Petah Tikva and questioned the head of Israel's football federation about an alleged match-fixing scandal.

Israel is the latest country affected by match-fixing and betting scandals in world football, involving international and club teams.

FIFA is investigating a global network of fixers with links to Malaysia and Singapore, which is suspected of arranging for national teams from Togo and Zimbabwe to lose matches.

A FIFA-approved referee from Niger is also suspected of manipulating the results of several international friendlies, including Nigeria's 4-1 win against Argentina three weeks ago.

Criminal trials in Germany and Finland this year have revealed bribes paid to players and referees to fix matches in about a dozen European leagues for betting coups, as organized criminal gangs exploit the increased opportunities offered by online gambling to cash in on corruption.

South Korea and Italy have also launched criminal investigations into fixed domestic league matches in recent weeks.

K-League to offer cash rewards for match-fixing tip-offs

K-League to offer cash rewards for match-fixing tip-offs

South Korea's professional soccer league will offer cash rewards to individuals who report on match-fixing attempts in the latest bid to curb corruption, local media reported on Tuesday.

The K-League officials will award 10 million won ($9,236) to 100 million won ($92,350), depending on the importance of the tipoff, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

The K-League's probe has so far caught gambling brokers for alleged involvement in match-fixing and charged 10 active players with taking money in exchange for helping their teams lose two matches in April.

Last month a player was found dead in a hotel room, with Yonhap reporting a suicide note had been discovered referring to the match-fixing ring.

The K-League has ordered players to report their involvement in return for reduced punishments for those who turn themselves in while the government has threatened to terminate funding for sports leagues tainted by match-fixing.

Korean soccer league in crisis mode as match-fixing scandal grows

Korean soccer league in crisis mode as match-fixing scandal grows

By Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea — Asia’s oldest professional soccer league is wrestling with one of the continent’s most serious match-fixing scandals, with fans in South Korea stunned by revelations of bribery and corruption in the K-league.

Already, six players belonging to K-League clubs have been arrested, along with two gambling brokers, and charged with receiving money in exchange for trying to fix the results of their games. A former K-league star linked to the scandal was found dead last week in an apparent suicide.

In a bid to weed out corruption, K-League general secretary Ahn Ki-heon has announced a moratorium, saying that players coming forward between June 1-13 with details of match-fixing would be treated leniently.

Korean entertainer sentenced to prison for his Cebu gambling caper

Korean entertainer sentenced to prison for his Cebu gambling caper
By JONATHAN M. HICAP

MANILA, Philippines – A Korean court convicted entertainer Shin Jung Hwan on Friday for gambling in Cebu, Philippines last year and sentenced him to eight months in prison. The Seoul Central District Court handed down the decision in the morning of June 3, with Shin present in the courtroom.

It was a victory for prosecutors who previously urged the court to send Shin to jail. The Korean entertainer was charged with habitual gambling and violation of Korea’s Foreign Exchange Control Act and Passport Act. In sentencing 36-year-old Shin, the judge also considered his past gambling records.

Shin was fined five million won in 2003 and seven million won in 2005 for gambling. He was sued last year for failing to pay gambling debts amounting to 170 million won (P6.8 million).

Shin’s case stemmed from his visit to Cebu last year to gamble. For several days in August and September, Shin spent 210.5 million won (P8.42 million) playing baccarat at a hotel casino in Cebu. Of the total money he spent, he used 10.5 million won (about P420,000) of his own money and then borrowed 200 million won (P8 million) from a casino lender.

Koreans are prohibited by law to gamble in a casino in their country or overseas, with violators meted with imprisonment and fines. Koreans can only play at Kangwon Land in Gangwon Province, the only casino in South Korea that allows citizens to gamble.

Shin was thrust into the spotlight last year when he failed to return to South Korea to tape his shows. It turned out that he got stuck in Cebu for failing to pay his gambling debts and even allegedly used his passport as collateral.

After leaving Cebu, Shin went to Hong Kong, Macau, Nepal and Japan to evade investigation by Korean police and did not return to South Korea for five months.

The court took note that Shin eluded Korean laws when he hid in different countries starting September before coming back to Korea last January 19. He was arrested at the airport upon his arrival. Shin was eventually indicted last April 26 for habitual gambling and other charges.

In sentencing Shin to eight months in prison, the judge also considered the entertainer’s current medical condition and age. Shin is walking on crutches after undergoing leg surgery in February, following his return to Korea.

During his trial last May 18, Shin admitted to all the charges pertaining to habitual gambling but pleaded for leniency.

After the sentence was announced, Shin said he is deeply sorry for his actions

Policing the police

Policing the police

... most recently, a senior police official has been charged with murdering his mother to pocket insurance money and pay down gambling debt. To put it simply, the country’s police system is corrupt from top to bottom. On what grounds, therefore, can the police demand authority and expect trust from the public?