'1.6 Billion Won Fraud' Jeon Cheong-jo's Father Sentenced to 5 Years and 6 Months in First Trial

Court: "Victim recovery has not been achieved, and forgiveness has not been granted"

The father of Jeon Cheong-jo, who is on trial for investment fraud involving billions of won, was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison.

On the 23rd, the 1st Criminal Division of the Cheonan Branch of Daejeon District Court (Presiding Judge Jeon Kyung-ho) announced that Jeon Mo (61), who was arrested and indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud), was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison.

Jeon is accused of embezzling 1.61 billion won from victims he met while running a real estate development company, over six occasions from February to June 2018.

He deceived the victims by saying, "If you transfer money to me personally, it will be easier to get a startup loan," and received money into his personal bank account. It was later revealed that he disappeared and squandered the money on gambling and business ventures.

Jeon, who had been on the run for five years, was urgently arrested by the police on December 25 last year after entering a manpower brokerage office in Jeonnam and attempting to steal a mobile phone and flee.

The court stated the sentencing reasons, saying, "The amount of damage exceeds 1.6 billion won, and the nature of the crime is severe as he cut off contact with the victims and absconded after the crime," and "considering that the damage has not been recovered and he has not been forgiven."

Meanwhile, Jeon Cheong-jo, Jeon's daughter, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in the first trial for deceiving investors by pretending to be the illegitimate child of a third-generation chaebol and embezzling about 3 billion won.