”Pay up!” 44 arrested for stealing 100 million won in game center rampage

Police have arrested 44 people for causing a disturbance at a game center in the Seoul area and stealing about 100 million won, and have issued a wanted arrest warrant for one person.
On the 20th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Regional Investigation Unit Criminal Investigation Unit announced that they had investigated multiple suspects in the Seoul area between August 2018 and July last year.
The government announced that it had indicted 45 suspects who caused trouble at a game center and stole a total of 100 million won from the owner of the center. Two suspects with criminal records and habitual offenses were arrested on the same day, while the remaining 42 were not detained.
One of them was put on the wanted list. They visited game centers and habitually demanded money, saying, "I don't have any money," "I don't have money for food," or "I don't have money for medicine." If they did not give them money, they would get into trouble with the employees and commit a crime.
The suspects are accused of stealing 104 million won from 29 business owners by making noise and driving out customers. The suspect who stole the most money was A, who was arrested and has been in custody since February 2018.
It was revealed that they had stolen 19.26 million won in 156 transactions by July of this year. Two of the suspects stole about 13 million won from game center operators, saying, "We'll do something about the violent guys."
They are also suspected of stealing the game center's games. They took advantage of the fact that game centers are vulnerable to enforcement by local governments and police. The business owners are worried that they will not be punished by local governments if they cause trouble.
It was found that the victims had been suffering for a long time due to the fear of being punished by the police or the police. In response, the police visited 235 game centers across Seoul to identify the victims.
The police persistently persuaded the companies, who were refusing to make statements for fear of retaliation, and secured evidence, and then began their investigation to identify the suspects.
"Instead of paying the fine, we need to take preemptive measures, such as reporting the crimes quickly," he said, emphasizing that "we will continue to expand our investigations into crimes against small business owners and small merchants."