Used for Voice Phishing Collection Accounts
Virtual Account Deposit Amounts Exceed 1 Trillion Won
[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The chairman and an executive of an electronic payment gateway (PG) company, who opened about 47,000 virtual accounts and sold them to criminal organizations, have both been sentenced to prison.
According to the legal community on the 1st, Judge Shin Seongcheol of the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 12 sentenced PG company chairman Mr. A and executive Mr. B to three years in prison each on charges of aiding fraud and violating the Electronic Financial Transactions Act.
Mr. A and Mr. B are accused of collaborating with Mr. C, a member of an organized crime group in the Daejeon area in 2021, to issue and sell virtual accounts for criminal use.
The virtual accounts created by Mr. A and others from April 2021 to February last year amounted to 47,443.
These virtual accounts were used as collection accounts for voice phishing and deposit/withdrawal accounts for illegal gambling sites. The amount deposited through these virtual accounts was confirmed to be about 1 trillion won.
It is known that they exploited the fact that once online account creation authority was obtained, they could create an unlimited number of accounts. Victims of this new method reportedly did not even realize their information was being used for crimes.
During the trial, Mr. A and others claimed they did not conspire with the organized crime group and were unaware that the virtual accounts would be used for fraud or gambling, but the court did not accept these claims.
The court pointed out, "The amount deposited through the virtual accounts reaches about 1 trillion won," and added, "Mr. A, Mr. B, and others were well aware of these circumstances yet participated in distributing the virtual accounts, individually earning substantial profits." It further stated, "Especially as workers in financial institutions, their professional ethics make their blameworthiness even greater."
Meanwhile, two other PG company affiliates and five subordinate members of the organization were all sentenced to prison terms of one year or more.
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