Jay Je Yoon Jung lived away from the public eye until global authorities put an end to it

Jay Je Yoon Jung seemed like the perfect son.

During the day he worked at his parents’ cleaning company, but by night he was allegedly the creator of the Ghost messaging platform.

The AFP news agency said Ghost was created nine years ago by Mr Jung and was used exclusively by the criminal underworld to organise large-scale drug importation and trafficking, assassination threats and firearms sales by crime syndicates around the world.

Mr Jung was reportedly just 23 when he created the platform, which has since enjoyed popularity among Italian gangs in Victoria, bikies in Western Australia and Middle Eastern crime groups in New South Wales, according to AFP.

Mr. Jung allegedly created a business model that involved selling phones with his app installed for $2,345, which included a six-month subscription.

“We will allege that the administrator derived significant financial benefits from running this platform and selling services,” said AFP commander Paula Hudson.

The AFP agency reports that criminals are using 389 active mobile phones in Australia.

Commander Hudson said the widespread use of the name came through gang communications.

“It happens solely through recommendations, word-of-mouth marketing,” she said on the 7.30 program.

Mr. Jung reportedly had the final say on who could use his platform and provided technical support to those who needed it.

Alleged double life

His alleged involvement in administering Ghost and helping those who used it is at odds with what seemed like a quiet life.

Mr. Jung lived modestly with his parents and had no partner. However, he liked karaoke.

AFP described him as “quite shy in social contacts”.

The AFP agency reported on the 7.30 program that it knew about the Ghost platform seven years ago, but in 2021 French authorities warned that the app could potentially be run by an Australian.

The AFP commander cited a photo of a dog sitting on a pile of cash with its owner’s name and mobile phone number on it, as well as a stash of methamphetamine, as examples of messages sent through the app.

AFP Deputy Commissioner Kirsty Schofield said threats to kill were also common and the AFP had mitigated 50 cases, including one in which she witnessed a photo of an imminent threat.

“On one occasion we could see an image above the platform of a person with a firearm to their head,” said Deputy Commissioner Schofield.

“We had one hour to respond to this threat and share this information with our state and territory partners to mitigate this threat.”

“Virus-like” solution

Although the AFP agency was warned in 2021, it was not until March this year that it managed to hack into the Ghost platform and infect phones with the app installed using a technical solution resembling a virus.

Commander Rob Nelson, head of the AFP’s secret and technical services team, told 7.30 that he believed the methodology was a world first for use in law enforcement.

“Our technicians were able to identify an opportunity to exploit access to these devices so that we could infiltrate the network and gain access to them,” said Commander Nelson.

“In the case of Kraken, it was really some very smart software engineering and modification of the upgrade of these devices to essentially turn them into surveillance devices.”

The AFP will now consider whether the courts will find the methods it used legal.

“(Now) we’re moving into the prosecution phase, and that in itself is a significant part of the job,” Commander Nelson said.

To watch 7.30Monday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ABC iview and ABC television.