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The latest sport to become embroiled in an online gambling scandal? Baseball.
But it's not Major League Baseball in the US.
This scandal is taking place in South Korea where some of the best MLB players are being nurtured and sent to the US.
You might recall that Gambling911.com reported on the story of Korean baseball player-turned kiddie show host, Kang Byung-kyu, who was charged last month for gambling $2.6 billion on an Internet gambling website.
The Korea Times reported Thursday that prosecutors are investigating more than 10 pro-baseball players suspected of having habitually bet tens of millions of won on illegal online gambling. Some top-class players are also on the list.
Prosecutors have confirmed that 12 to 14 baseball players played Baccarat on an Internet site. The site was different from the one that baseball player-turned-show host Kang Byung-kyu used, a prosecutor said.
The prosecution will summon the players soon for questioning. ``We examined whether other people borrowed the players' names for membership of the gambling site, but we secured evidence that the players themselves gambled,'' the prosecutor said.
It gets worse though, operators of the Internet gambling website threatened to notify team owners after they suspected the players won games through hacking, according to prosecutors.
This is the latest in a series of illegal gambling scandals involving sports players, according to the Korea Times. Earlier in November, another baseball pitcher, Oh Sang-min of the LG Twins, was booked for holding more than 60 gambling sessions in Daegu. The money up for grabs reached three million won per session. He reportedly lost 70 million won and a car. The gambling house owner blackmailed Oh, which prompted him to turn himself in to police.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
