Precious Metal Theft Con Artist Caught by Police After About a Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] A man in his 20s who fled after repeatedly scamming and stealing stolen precious metals was caught by the police after more than a year.

The Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul announced on the 18th that they have arrested and are investigating a man in his 20s, Mr. A, on charges of special theft and receiving stolen goods.

On April 20 last year, Mr. A received a gold bracelet worth approximately 17 million won, stolen by two teenagers including Mr. B, at a gold trading shop in Yeongdeungpo-gu, after agreeing to exchange it for a used car, but then took only the gold bracelet and disappeared.

Subsequently, Mr. B and others were arrested by the police, but Mr. A remained at large as he could not be contacted.

The police recently confirmed that Mr. A had been issued a wanted notice for fraud charges at another police station, and used Mr. A’s social networking service (SNS) to inform him of the wanted notice and persuaded him to appear at the police station.

Accordingly, Mr. A voluntarily appeared at the Central Precinct under the Yeongdeungpo Police Station around 2 p.m. on the 15th and underwent investigation.

A police official explained, "While reviewing cases from a year ago, we identified the issuance of the wanted notice for Mr. A," adding, "This matter is currently under investigation by the violent crimes unit."