"Rolls-Royce Man Who Claimed No Money Hires Luxurious Legal Team from Three Major Law Firms"

"Former Chief Judge and Former Senior Prosecutor Also Included"

Near Apgujeong Station in Seoul, a perpetrator who, while intoxicated on drugs, drove a Rolls-Royce onto the sidewalk and fatally struck a pedestrian, is reported to have assembled a luxury legal defense team.

Shin Mo, who is accused of causing an accident and injuring a pedestrian while driving under the influence of drugs, is seen leaving after completing a pre-trial detention hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on August 11.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 2nd, a post appeared on the YouTube community 'Caracula Crime Research Institute' (hereafter Caracula) stating, "Shin, the Apgujeong Rolls-Royce drug driver who tragically caused the death of a woman in her 20s walking on the street, has hired eight lawyers from three major law firms." Caracula also mentioned, "Among Shin's legal team are a former chief judge and a former high-ranking prosecutor."

Caracula expressed outrage, saying, "Shin OO claimed to be an ordinary citizen with nothing to his name. So who paid the fees for this luxury legal team?" Previously, the perpetrator had drawn attention for driving a vehicle worth 700 million won despite being in his 20s.

As related controversies grew, the perpetrator appeared on the channel last August and claimed, "The Rolls-Royce I was driving at the time of the accident was someone else's car, the 400 million won worth of AfreecaTV star balloons were from an ID I lent, I never heard of or saw the overseas futures trading room 'MT5,' all the luxury watches worth hundreds of millions like Richard Mille and Audemars Piguet were fakes, and the 100 million won spent on a night at a Gangnam club was all paid for by others."

He also completely denied suspicions that he generated huge profits from operating the overseas futures trading room. When asked, "Then how did you make a lot of money?" he replied, "I didn't make much money."

MT5 is an emerging criminal organization that has come under suspicion for habitual drug use, gambling, and fraud following Shin's case.

Victim Dies from Low Blood Pressure

The woman in her 20s who died after being struck by Shin's Rolls-Royce passed away on the 25th of last month due to cardiac arrest caused by low blood pressure.

The victim's older brother tearfully told MBC in an interview on the 1st, "The 24th (the day before her death) was my sister's birthday. (She was originally told) that three months was the maximum time she could survive, but she waited until her birthday."

The bereaved family stated through YouTube broadcasts and other channels that Shin, who had denied the charges, only contacted them through his lawyer to send an apology letter after the trial began, adding, "After seeing the perpetrator appear on YouTube and TV interviews following the accident, we are certain that we have no intention of reaching a settlement or accepting anything like that."

On August 2nd at around 8:10 p.m., Shin was driving a Rolls-Royce on a road near Exit 4 of Apgujeong Station in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, when he drove onto the sidewalk, causing an accident that left a woman in her 20s brain dead. He fled the scene without providing aid and was arrested and indicted in September on charges including hit-and-run causing injury under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

On the day of the crime, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Shin received two doses of psychotropic drugs such as midazolam and diazepam at a nearby plastic surgery clinic and drove in a state where normal driving was difficult, resulting in the accident. After the accident, he handled his phone in the vehicle and only partially cleared debris from the building, then left the scene six minutes later, leaving the victim behind.

At a hearing held on the 16th of last month at the Seoul Central District Court, Shin admitted to charges of dangerous driving causing injury under the Special Act and failure to take measures after an accident under the Road Traffic Act but denied the hit-and-run charge, claiming, "I did not have the intent to flee the scene."