Several months after $12 million was stolen from a VIP room safe at the Jeju Shinhwa World’s Landing Casino, authorities are now looking for two accomplices who have fled South Korea.

Landing Casino’s Efforts to Retrieve $12m in Stolen Funds Continue

Hollywood-inspired casino heists seldom work out well in real life, but this is not the case for Jeju Shinhwa World’s Landing Casino, which had a security breach resulting in $12 million stolen from a secure safe.

The money has been traced to a bank, and it remains deposited there, but the actual account holder’s name is still unknown, according to local reporting. The casino first reported the case in January when it alerted authorities that the money had disappeared from a VIP room’s safe.

Police identified a 50-year-old former casino executive back in January as the lead suspect, but new reports have suggested that she has been working with accomplices. The accomplices have been referred to as Mr. A and Mr. B in police statements, but they fled the country in January before authorities had had time to react. 

Criminals Need to Be Brought to Justice

Authorities have confirmed that the search for them has gone international through an Interpol red warrant. Landing Casino has submitted paperwork trying to prove its ownership of the funds, but until all parties involved are present, investigators cannot grant the casino definitive access to the money.

Under South Korean law, all proceeds and property derived from crime are subject to confiscation and may only be returned to the rightful claimant once a court has reached a verdict. With the suspects missing, that is unlikely to be the case soon, putting more pressure on the property. 

If the case is not settled in court, the funds will be forwarded to the national treasury instead.