A former Jeju casino executive has been jailed for 16 months in court for allegedly fabricating the results of a social impact survey submitted to transfer the existing Jeju casino license to the newly built Jeju Dream Tower Resort in 2021.
Kim Woong was the CEO of LT Casino, which used to use the casino in Lotte Hotel Jeju, and received a casino license for Jeju Dream Tower, a special purpose casino complex, from Lotte Tour Development Co., Ltd.
He was found guilty of obstruction of justice in the Jeju District Court last Wednesday.
Jeju authorities have been demanding an open investigation process into the transfer of the game from Lotte Hotel Jeju to Jeju Dream Tower.
A part of the survey process is designed as a street poll among the public.
Other sections of the survey activities on the social impact of the new Jeju Dream Tower were designed to obtain opinions from representative samples of local residents. In August 2020, it was announced that the new facility received a “fit” designation from local authorities regarding its social impact.
According to the court, Kim asked a poll company hired in July 2020 to find a “casino-friendly group,” which distorted the residential survey section in the process. That section accounted for 200 points out of 1,000, or 20 percent of the entire survey process.
The details of the evidence submitted to the court were confirmed by the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province to GGRAsia in response to a telephone inquiry on Thursday.
A local government official told GGRAsia that the court’s results should not affect the status of casino operations at Jeju Dream Tower. An exception could be made when another person or organization files an administrative lawsuit challenging the previous proceedings.
Two people involved in the management of the investigation process, who were reportedly commissioned by the LT Casino from Gallup Korea, admitted to obstructing justice. They were each sentenced to 10 months in prison with two years of probation, and four months with one year of probation, Jeju authorities said.
There was also controversy over the process when Jeju’s local council, a quasi-autonomous district with a concentration of foreigner-only casinos, approved the operation of the game at Jeju Dream Tower in March 2021.
In particular, there was controversy over the police investigation regarding the allegation that the investigation process was subject to manipulation.
LT Casino closed in April 2021, and Jeju Dream Tower Casino opened in June 2021.
BY: 홀짜게임