"Gold Trading Investment Leading" Phishing Cash Withdrawal Agent Sentenced to 1 Year and 6 Months in Prison

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Seoyul] The court sentenced a cash withdrawal agent of a voice phishing organization that swindled a total of approximately 194 million won under the pretense of gold trading investment leading to imprisonment.

According to the legal community on the 22nd, Judge Jeon Beomsik of the Criminal Division 8 at Seoul Southern District Court sentenced Shin Mo (54), who was indicted on charges including fraud, to 1 year and 6 months in prison on the 18th. The court stated the reason for sentencing, "Telecommunication financial fraud (voice phishing) is an organized and planned crime targeting unspecified many, causing significant harm to individual victims and society, so even simple participation requires punishment." However, "The defendant has no prior record of similar crimes and recognized the crime only implicitly," and "considering the fairness with a simultaneous ruling where the defendant was sentenced to 2 years in prison for a similar crime during the same period," the sentence was determined accordingly.

Shin was indicted for conspiring with the voice phishing organization related to gold trading investment from November 2020 for about five months, withdrawing a total of 169.99 million won from nine victims. During this period, Shin, known as 'Kim Team Leader' within the organization, was investigated to have committed the crime by agreeing to receive about 3% of the withdrawal amount as a fee for withdrawing cash. The withdrawn cash was found to have been transferred via bank transfer to accounts designated by Kim Team Leader and other organization members.

Previously, Shin was also sentenced to 2 years in prison by the Seoul Southern District Court on May 19 last year for a similar crime during the same period, where he swindled a total of 330 million won from 18 victims.