Unauthorized Item Creation with Admin Account
Transferred to Personal Account and Sold 8,400 Times
In a trial concerning a former administrator who earned at least 2 billion KRW in profits from unauthorized game items, the prosecution is reportedly struggling with the valuation of the items.
On the 14th, the Jeju District Court's 2nd Criminal Division (Presiding Judge Jin Jae-kyung) held the third hearing for Mr. A (37), who was detained and indicted on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud).
Previously, Mr. A, a Canadian national, joined Neople in August 2015 and was responsible for game operations such as Dungeon & Fighter at the headquarters in Jeju City.
From 2020 for about a year, Mr. A is accused of unauthorized access to the so-called 'super account,' an administrator account, approximately 1,300 times, creating rare items used in Dungeon & Fighter, then transferring and selling them through his personal game account.
The prosecution estimates that Mr. A produced about 20,000 unauthorized items. When converted into Dungeon & Fighter game currency, this amounts to 7 trillion gold, approximately 4.7 billion KRW. The number of transfers reached as many as 8,400 times.
This crime by Mr. A was uncovered during Neople’s internal monitoring process last November.
Mr. A admitted to the charges from the first trial but argued that the damage amount was exaggerated. During the trial, he claimed, "Only 2.2 billion KRW out of the 4.7 billion KRW was profit from the crime."
At the hearing, the prosecution stated, "We are considering how to calculate the value of the items," explaining, "Although the creation period is identified, the price fluctuates greatly." They also said, "If we set the lowest price, it becomes less than the amount Mr. A traded," and requested the court to question Mr. A.
Presiding Judge Jin said, "Applying the value to all created items would be disadvantageous to the defendant," while Mr. A’s defense attorney responded, "We are well aware of this. Mr. A has confessed. However, the 4.7 billion KRW claimed by the prosecution is excessive."
The court decided that both parties need additional time for review and scheduled the next trial for October 12. In the previous two hearings, the court also noted the need to organize the damage calculation and set new trial dates.
Meanwhile, a former Neople employee known as 'Gungdaengi Man' B, who committed similar crimes using an administrator account on the Dungeon & Fighter domestic server, was recently sentenced to prison (first trial) by the court.
Following the 'Gungdaengi Man' case and the revelation of Mr. A’s similar actions, Neople issued a statement on their homepage saying, "We apologize to our adventurers for the disappointment caused by internal staff misconduct," and added, "The development team is taking this misconduct very seriously and will do their best with vigilance to prevent such incidents from recurring."
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