Couple Who Committed 5 Billion Won Fraud Sentenced to Prison Together After 16 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] A couple involved in a fraud scheme worth around 5 billion won who had been on the run for a long time were both sentenced to prison after 16 years.

According to the court on the 24th, the Seoul Northern District Court Criminal Division 13 (Presiding Judge Oh Kwon-cheol) sentenced Mr. A, who was indicted in custody on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to five years in prison. His wife, Ms. B, was already sentenced to four years and six months in prison in January 2020 for the same case and is currently incarcerated.

After being victims of investment fraud in 2006, they began committing similar crimes themselves. Mr. A, acting as a financial planner, recruited investors by promising a 12% annual interest rate with principal guaranteed, while his wife Ms. B pretended to be a consultant and embezzled the investment funds. From then until 2018, they collected a total of 5.805 billion won over 71 occasions.

The couple used part of the investment funds to pay returns to other investors in a so-called 'Ponzi scheme.' The rest was used for personal living expenses, according to investigations.

When investors began to suspect whether the investments were actually being made properly, the couple introduced already closed companies as investment destinations and forged promissory notes and loan agreements in the names of those companies. In December 2018, when they were sued for fraud by an investor, they filed a false complaint against the company, claiming they were also victims.

Before his police appearance, Mr. A left for Peru, leaving his wife Ms. B behind, and continued to evade capture overseas until June 2021. After Ms. B was sentenced to prison, Mr. A was deported from Vietnam in June last year, one and a half years later, and was arrested in Korea. Mr. A denied the charges, claiming it was his wife’s solo crime.

The court stated, "They embezzled over 5 billion won, forged and used securities and private documents to conceal their crimes, and even falsely accused others, showing extremely bad criminal intent. They fled abroad and denied most of the charges, causing the victims severe mental distress."