Of 438 South Koreans repatriated from overseas between January and November to face criminal charges, 14.8 percent – or 65 individuals – stood accused of “cyber gambling”, reported Yonhap news agency, citing Thursday comment by the country’s National Police Agency.
The report did not specify the nature of the alleged online-related gambling offences.
More than half of all those brought back to South Korea – i.e., 245 people, or 55.9 percent – faced fraud charges. A further 7.1 percent, or 31 people, were accused of crimes involving violence, including assault and robbery, according to police data.
The 438 repatriated – described in the report as “fugitives” – ranged in age from 21 to 83. The average age was 44, and 90.0 percent of them, or 394 individuals, were men.
Those returned had been at large for eight years and eight months on average.
The tally of the returnees was described as a 21.3 percent jump from the same period last year.
