40s Man Sold 180,000 Fake Viagra Pills... Fined 2.5 Billion KRW and Given Suspended Prison Sentence

A sales agent involved in distributing fake erectile dysfunction treatments in South Korea was sentenced to a fine of 2.5 billion KRW and a suspended prison sentence.

According to the legal community on the 2nd, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25 (Presiding Judge Ji Gui-yeon) sentenced Cho (46), who was tried on charges of violating the Act on the Control of Health Crimes (manufacturing counterfeit drugs, etc.), to three years in prison with a five-year suspension and a fine of 2.5 billion KRW.

The court stated, "The quantity of counterfeit treatments sold by the defendant and the scale of the transaction amount are considerable, making the culpability severe. According to his own statements, he earned about 300 million KRW in profits and actively promoted the counterfeit drugs by creating and operating the website, which worsens the nature of the crime."

However, the court added, "It does not appear that he played a professional or organized role, and there have been no confirmed cases of health problems caused by taking the counterfeit treatments. It is also taken into account that he committed the crime temporarily due to financial difficulties and that he is currently employed at a legitimate company in Vietnam, supporting his spouse and daughter."

Cho was prosecuted for receiving orders and selling a total of 182,087 counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills worth approximately 1.214 billion KRW at retail prices through an internet site 9,878 times from April 2018 to October of the following year.

Investigations revealed that Cho conspired with an unidentified supplier known as the so-called 'Hwang Representative' in 2018 to distribute counterfeit erectile dysfunction treatments domestically, which were manufactured to resemble authorized drugs such as Viagra and Cialis. Cho, who resided in Guangzhou, China, or Hanoi, Vietnam, received orders through the internet site and payments via a pseudonymous bank account, while the Hwang Representative handled the delivery of the counterfeit erectile dysfunction treatments, dividing roles in the crime.