[Economic Crime 24 Hours] Targeting Elderly People's Savings... Various Scams Unfolded in Busan

Repeated Incidents in Busan Nam-gu, Yeonje-gu, and Busanjin-gu
Almost No Recovery of Damages... All Main Perpetrators Sentenced to Imprisonment

1,000 trillion won.

This is an amount that ordinary people can hardly imagine. Even 1.1 trillion won is an enormous sum, but this figure is 10,000 times that. However, if the amount is related to Interpol, the UN, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, the World Bank’s higher organizations, or the world’s top international financial institutions that distribute humanitarian funds to ordinary citizens, it becomes somewhat believable. The suspect, Seo Mo (60, female), approached elderly people by appointing Shin Mo (57, male) as the head of the Asia branch of this organization. The organization’s name was the unfamiliar P.R.O.14646 to everyone.

From April 2020 to December 2021, Seo promoted her company A as a business partner of P.R.O.14646 and claimed that she was responsible for bringing P.R.O.14646’s funds into Korea. She then proposed investments under the name of capital to seven victims in their 60s and 70s, promising repayment within 1 to 2 months as well as lifelong salaries and housing. During this process, she created a YouTube channel and posted videos containing false information related to P.R.O.14646 to deceive the victims.

Squeezed even dry squid... Induced to take private loans (Busanjin Police Station)

The victims who were deceived invested amounts ranging from 25 million won to as much as 370 million won. Those without investment funds were tricked by the gang into taking high-interest private loans from loan companies using land, apartments, and cars as collateral. The total damage amounted to 1.156 billion won. The gang initially paid interest, but it was revealed that the payments were actually made by circulating money deposited from other members of company A.

As interest payments were delayed and protests continued, they switched to intimidation tactics, creating fear among the victims. Considering that the social networking service (SNS) operated by company A had over 100 members and based on victims’ testimonies, it is estimated that there are more undisclosed victims.

Eventually, unable to endure any longer, the victims filed a complaint on April 12, 2022, prompting a police investigation. The Busanjin Police Station arrested Seo within five months and immediately detained her. Shin, who acted as a figurehead, fled after failing to appear for a pre-arrest interrogation on December 21 of the same year but was eventually caught and detained on February 6, 2023, in Ganghwa-do, Incheon. Although the main culprits were all arrested, none of the damages were recovered as most of the funds had already been spent.

Fortune teller posing as a loan shark... Elderly people easily deceived (Busan Nambu Police Station)

In Busan’s Nam-gu district, a multi-billion won fraud targeting elderly people also took place. Kim Mo (65, female), a fortune teller, proposed private loan investment to elderly customers who frequently visited her fortune-telling shop from 2021 to 2022. She introduced herself as a “big player in private loans” and deceived them by promising dividends through so-called “interest play” if they invested money with her.

Kim also paid interest initially to appear as if she was genuinely engaged in private lending. Of course, she was running a Ponzi scheme by using money from other victims. There were four victims, all elderly in their 60s and 70s. After the Busan Nambu Police Station received the first complaint in December 2021, they expanded the investigation as similar complaints continued to surface.

Police investigations revealed that Kim embezzled 720 million won over 89 instances from the four victims. Kim’s fraud ended after three years, and she was arrested in October 2022. She was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison and is currently serving her sentence behind bars.

Fled after one big score... ‘That guy’ caught after 100 days (Busan Yeonje Police Station)

In Yeonje-gu, Busan, a baccarat game investment scam brought tears to elderly victims. Chu Mo (60), who already had a double-digit criminal record, rented an office in Yeonje-gu and installed several computers. He recruited investors by pretending that he had developed a baccarat game that was already on the market.

First, Chu brought Park Mo (64, female), whom he knew personally, to the office and demonstrated the baccarat game while encouraging her to invest. Chu’s condition was 3% of the investment amount, paid daily at 3% for 50 days. Chu paid Park profits for about half a month and attracted two more investors. The total amount Chu swindled was 70 million won.

By the time Park and other victims realized that everything Chu said was false, he had already fled. The Busan Yeonje Police Station, after about 100 days of tracking, finally arrested Chu in Jamsil, Seoul. At the time of arrest, Chu was preparing another scam by renting an office on a short-term lease. Considering his prior convictions for similar crimes, the court sentenced Chu to 7 years in prison.