Deceived Victim Woman to Extort 190 Million Won
1st Trial: 3 Years 6 Months Imprisonment → 2nd Trial: 4 Years 6 Months Imprisonment
A man in his 40s who deceived a woman by pretending to be a doctor and promising marriage, then swindled her out of hundreds of millions of won, received a harsher sentence in the appellate court.
According to the legal community on the 2nd, the Suwon District Court Criminal Appeals Division 5-3 (Presiding Judges Hong Deuk-gwan, Kim Haeng-sun, Lee Jong-rok) overturned the original sentence of 3 years and 6 months imprisonment and sentenced Mr. A, who was indicted on fraud charges, to 4 years and 6 months imprisonment in the appeal trial.
Mr. A deceived the victim, Ms. B, whom he met through an acquaintance, by saying, "I am a doctor, you are a prosecutor, and my brother-in-law is a judge," and the two began dating on the premise of marriage. He pretended to be a wealthy man, claiming to own an apartment in Gwanggyo New Town, Suwon City, and stocks worth tens of billions of won, but it was revealed that he was not actually a doctor and had no substantial income.
Later, in April 2022, Mr. A lied to Ms. B, saying, "I am not receiving a salary from the hospital and have no cash, so please lend me money," and "I will repay you once I file a civil lawsuit and receive the overdue salary," thereby obtaining property benefits worth about 73 million won by February 2023.
In July of the same year, he also told Ms. B, "I gave the wedding expenses to an acquaintance, but the acquaintance ran away," and had her transfer about 116 million won as wedding expenses to the venue, after which the wedding was held.
It was investigated that Mr. A had already been criminally punished twice before this crime for impersonating a doctor and committing fraud.
Additionally, from 2013 to November 2019, he was punished with fines to imprisonment six times for charges including fraud and attempted fraud.
Earlier, the first trial court stated to Mr. A, "The defendant committed this crime by impersonating a doctor during the recidivism period without reflecting on or repenting for his mistakes," and "He even showed shameless and brazen behavior by threatening to visit the victim’s family home, knowing their address, and demanding additional money."
Furthermore, the court said, "The defendant has been criminally punished for fraud by impersonating a doctor and has a history of multiple fraud convictions, yet he committed these crimes again during the recidivism period without reflection or repentance," and sentenced him to 3 years and 6 months imprisonment.
In response, the prosecutor appealed, arguing the sentence was too light, and Mr. A also appealed, claiming the sentence was too heavy. The appellate court, after considering the defendant’s motive and circumstances after the crime and all sentencing factors, ruled that the original sentence was too light and sided with the prosecutor.
The second trial court stated, "The defendant pretended to marry the victim and embezzled a large sum of money such as wedding funds. Considering the circumstances, content, duration, method, and scale of the damage, the nature of the crime is not good, and the defendant deserves strong condemnation."
It added, "The betrayal, hurt, and psychological shock the victim suffered from the defendant, who was supposed to be her marriage partner, are very significant," and "The defendant has not compensated the victim for her damages up to this appeal, and the victim appeared in the original trial court to plead for a severe punishment of the defendant," explaining the reasons for the sentencing.
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