Seoul, Jan 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) Seventy-three South Korean nationals who have been detained in Cambodia over alleged involvement in scam crimes will be forcibly returned home for investigation, Cheong Wa Dae said on Thursday.
A chartered flight will depart from Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at 8:45 p.m. and return at 9:10 a.m. on Friday carrying the suspects, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told reporters.
The suspects were detained in Cambodia by a joint investigation team and are accused of swindling a total of 486.7 billion won ($331.5 million) from 869 South Korean victims, Kang said.
It marks the largest repatriation of criminal suspects, following a joint investigation involving South Korean and Cambodian police, as well as the National Intelligence Service, according to the spokesperson.
The joint investigation team raided seven scam compounds, including sites in Sihanoukville, Poipet and Mondulkiri Province in December, and rounded up the suspects, Yonhap news agency reported.
"Arrest warrants have been issued for all of the suspects, and they will be handed over to investigative authorities immediately upon arrival for thorough investigation and judicial proceedings," Kang said.
"(The government) plans to confiscate criminal proceeds by tracking down the suspects' concealed assets to the end."
The suspects are members of organised scam syndicates that carried out fake romance and investment schemes and extorted money from family members of people detained at scam centres in Cambodia. Some used deepfake technology to deceive victims and underwent plastic surgery to evade law enforcement, she said.
Earlier on January 12, a joint South Korean investigation team had nabbed 26 people over scam crimes involving sexual exploitation in Cambodia through cooperation with the local authorities, Cheong Wa Dae had said.
The pangovernment task force of Korean police and the National Intelligence Service took 26 members of a scam ring in Phnom Penh into custody during raids into their offices and residences on January 5 together with Cambodian police, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told reporters
Source: IANS
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