[Exclusive] The death of a man Cavoni... The ‘Sex Crime Pyramid’

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The police are investigating a gang that secretly filmed sex trafficking videos and extorted money by threatening them as bait.

Police believe another crime is entangled like a pyramid, with hundreds of people involved.

Reporters Kim Ji-wook and Shin Yong-shik will deliver the contents of our exclusive coverage in turn.

<Reporter Kim Ji-wook>

Last month, a building parking lot in Seoul.

A man in his 40s was found dead in the vehicle.

However, a suspicious message was found on this man's cell phone.

It was a threatening text requesting money from an anonymous account.

It was a KakaoTalk message from which it was not known who sent it, but it contained a video of a man prostitution and a threat saying, "If you don't send money, I will send the video to your family."

The man sent over 10 million won on several occasions without notifying anyone.

However, threats to send more money continued, and the man left a suicide note and made an extreme choice.

what the hell happened

A motel in Bupyeong, Incheon last September.

The motel CCTV footage secured by the reporters contained the crime at the time.

Women who appear to be underage are followed by men.

Thirty minutes before this situation occurred, a man in his 30s, A, was caught on CCTV.

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A hidden camera was installed in the motel room where Mr. A entered and exited.

As a result of the police investigation, it was revealed that Mr. A planned a crime with Miss B, whom he met through a conditional meeting earlier this year.

Mr. A, who booked accommodations near Seoul and the metropolitan area on a weekly basis, posted an article on SNS with the keyword 'prostitution of minors' and gathered sex buyers.

The hidden camera installed by Mr. A contained videos of men buying sex, and Miss B secretly installed a hacking program on the men's cell phones to steal various information.

The illegally filmed video and stolen contact information were used for blackmail.

It was found that more than 30 sex buyers were illegally filmed by Mr. A for two months from last September.

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<Reporter Shin Yong-sik>

The first step of a sexual crime that was done structurally.

This is an accommodation street in Incheon where prostitution took place.

The suspects, pretending to be guests, set up places in Seoul and other places, including here, and lured men to commit crimes.

The police, who launched an investigation, arrested Mr. A in Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do last month, who installed hidden cameras in lodgings.

However, Mr. A brings out an unexpected story during the police investigation.

He said, "I was 'body cam phishing' from someone last July, and then I was threatened and mobilized for the crime."

Mr. A stated that all the money received for the crime was paid to the upper line, and it was this upper line that designed the crime.

Mr. A said that the 'top line' who identified himself as 'a brother in his 40s living in China' constantly pressured him through an anonymous chat account made with an overseas IP address that was difficult to track.

At first, the threat was to "give me the money," but when Mr. A persisted, saying he had no money, the direction changed to instructing the crime.

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The order from the upper line is to “recruit a woman and have her prostituted, then take a hidden camera of the man buying the sex and send it to her.”

The illegal filming made in this way was used to intimidate men who bought sex, including men who made an extreme choice last month.

The police, who expanded the investigation, found that more people besides Mr. A were involved in the crime of this Chinese senior in his 40s.

In the process of tracing the police account, it was confirmed that hundreds of people sent over 2 billion won to this 'upper line' in two months.

This money was again divided into about 400 foreign accounts and withdrawn.

It was found that there were dozens of cases of damage reported from all over the country.

The police believe that hundreds of people, including Mr. A, are involved in these pyramid sex crimes, centering on the 'upper line'.

The police sent the suspects A and B to the prosecution on charges of illegal filming and extortion, and launched a full-scale investigation to secure the so-called 'top line' recruits.

(Video coverage: Jo Hyun-cheol, Video editing: Park Ji-in, VJ: Noh Jae-min)

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<Anchor>

Reporter Kim Ji-wook, who covered this story, is with me.

[Reporter Kim Ji-wook: They seem to be victims, but those who have been threatened are also sex offenders who have engaged in prostitution or failed to meet conditions.

As a result, they could not easily report it to the police or notify them anywhere, and the criminals took advantage of this.

There are hundreds of accounts that have sent money to so-called upper-level accounts, and this is why only dozens of people have reported to the police even after being threatened to send money to these accounts.

The police are paying attention to the fact that from the top to the bottom of this case pyramid, criminals threaten other criminals and various sex crimes are intertwined.]

[Reporter Kim Ji-wook: The police are concentrating their investigation on tracking down the so-called top line.

It seems that it will take a considerable amount of time to chase the top line, as the proceeds of the crime have already gone into accounts in the names of foreigners, and the messengers used by the people involved in this case are all overseas accounts.

At present, it is unclear whether the entity behind this upper line is an individual or a criminal organization.

In order to confirm the actual scale and main culprits of these 'pyramid sex crimes', the police are considering ways to reinforce the investigation team.]