Authorities in South Korea have broken up an internet gambling operation posing as an online shopping network.

On Sunday, the Korea Times reported that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) had arrested four individuals for their involvement in the ring, which involved 30 different illegal gambling sites taking wagers from Korean punters. The sites, which were disguised as online shopping businesses, were operated from within China in a bid to avoid detection by South Korean authorities.

Among those detained were the sites’ owner, a man identified only as Lee, along with the sites’ operator, a man identified only as Park. The latter man told the SMPA that Lee had entrusted him with running the sites in August 2013. Since that time, Park claimed the sites had handled wagers totaling KRW 135.4b (US $114m), of which the sites kept KRW 24b ($20.2m) as profit.

Park claimed the site had a client roster of around 20k gamblers, who used fake names to avoid police connecting their bank account activity with the sites. Park reportedly operated the sites from Shenyang in China’s Liaoning province, although he used his share of the profits to live in a “luxurious” house back home in Busan.