50s Man 'Not Guilty' for Withdrawing 7.9 Million Won with Neighbor's Dementia Patient's Check Card

Elderly Mostly Answered "Don't Know" to Questions... Currently Deceased
Defendant Says "Was Asked by Elderly and Took Some Errand Money"

A man in his 50s who was accused of withdrawing money from an ATM using the check card of a neighboring elderly man in his 70s suffering from dementia was acquitted.

On the 6th, the Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 1 (Judge Shin Dong-il) announced that it had acquitted Mr. A (59), who was indicted on charges of theft. Mr. A was accused of withdrawing a total of 7.9 million won 10 times from an ATM between October 5 and 28 last year using the check card of Mr. B (then 79 years old), who lived next door, without Mr. B's consent. At the time, Mr. A lived next door to Mr. B, who was elderly and in poor health due to dementia.

The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. The photo shows an ATM of a commercial bank installed in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

However, Mr. A denied the charges in court. He admitted to withdrawing cash from Mr. B's account but claimed that Mr. B had handed him his check card and asked him to withdraw the cash on his behalf. Mr. A stated that he delivered the withdrawn cash to Mr. B and only received a small portion as an errand fee.

During the police investigation, Mr. B, who was suffering from dementia at level 4, stated that he did not know about the account balance before and after the damage, whether anyone knew the location of the check card, or the circumstances when the neighboring man (Mr. A) visited. Moreover, Mr. B later passed away. Considering that Mr. A objected to Mr. B's testimony records and that Mr. B had died, the court proceeded with the trial under Article 314 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

Article 314 of the Criminal Procedure Act allows documents or statements made by a person in a credible state to be admitted as evidence when the witness cannot testify in court due to death, illness, or unknown whereabouts. At the time of Mr. B's testimony, Mr. C, the head of the elderly welfare center facility, participated as a testimony assistant. Although Mr. C was not directly related to the case, he actively intervened to assist with parts Mr. B could not answer. However, the court viewed that Mr. C participated as a testimony assistant with a presumption that Mr. A committed the crime described in the indictment.

The court judged that the other evidence submitted by the prosecution was insufficient to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, the court explained the reason for the acquittal, stating, "It is difficult to consider that sufficient evidence was submitted regarding the circumstances and method by which the defendant used Mr. B's check card to withdraw cash without Mr. B's consent," and "The charges in this case fall under the category of lack of proof of the crime."