By Yi Whan-woo
The former head of the country’s only licensed sports bookmaker allegedly maintained a slush fund of billions of won for years, prosecutors said Thursday.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said that the 54-year-old surnamed Cho created the slush fund by taking kickbacks from paper suppliers and advertisers in return for a contract with Sports Toto, the sports betting affiliate of the Orion Group.
He is suspected of using the illegal funds to lobby the officials Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and also people at the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation under the ministry. The ministry and the organization oversee the country’s lone sports betting business to boost related industry and decide who will run private businesses.
Cho was allegedly involved in embezzlement and was given a suspended prison term earlier this year, said a company public relations official, who refused to give any more details.
“We refuse to give his name nor his title in English because he has not worked for Orion Group since January,” she said.
Meanwhile, investigators have raided the offices of Sports Toto and seized evidence.
“We’ve been tracking bank accounts of high-ranked employees of the company and also got hard proof from four to five firms that cooperate with Sports Toto,” an investigator said.
The bookmaker has been scrutinized since last year for corruption, with some brokers reaping money by bribing professional athletes to fix results in return for illegal gains.