"Scratch on My Car" - 40s Apartment Cleaner and Resident Sentenced for Extorting Money

"Imprisonment for 1 Year for Crime Against Same Apartment Residents with Difficult-to-Understand Motive"

A man in his 40s who extorted money from an apartment janitor and residents by claiming their car was scratched has been sentenced to prison. The photo above is not related to the article.

[Asia Economy Reporter Intern Lee Gyehwa] A man in his 40s who extorted money from an apartment janitor and residents, claiming scratches on his car, was sentenced to prison.

The Daejeon District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Kim Seongryul) announced on the 30th that it sentenced A (41), who was charged with extortion, assault, and injury, to one year in prison.

A is accused of calling janitor B (67), who was cleaning fallen leaves next to his parked car in an apartment parking lot in Dong-gu, Daejeon, around 10 a.m. on June 8, 2019, verbally abusing him and threatening to report to the police unless compensated for the scratches on his car, thereby receiving 350,000 won in cash.

On December 22 of the following year, at 11:14 a.m., A also demanded 350,000 won from a resident living in the same apartment complex, claiming, "You passed between my car and the car parked next to it, causing scratches on the car door," and received 60,000 won in cash under the pretext of compensation.

In particular, in December last year, A was involved in a dispute with a motorcycle rider on a street in Dong-gu, Daejeon, committing assault, and is also accused of verbally abusing and injuring an 80-year-old man waiting for an elevator.

The court stated the sentencing rationale, saying, "The defendant committed crimes against residents of the same apartment with motives difficult to understand from a social perspective, and the damages have not yet been restored. Considering that the victims are suffering and fear further misconduct after the defendant's release, and are pleading for severe punishment, a prison sentence is imposed."