"The Woman Is the Cake Thief" Large Mart Wrongly Accuses Innocent Person... Offers Only '300,000 Won' Compensation

Rumors of a Burglar in the Neighborhood During Investigation
Subject Taken to Emergency Room Due to Extreme Stress

A story has emerged about a large supermarket falsely accusing a female customer of theft. The woman reportedly suffered severe stress after being rumored as a thief among her neighbors during the police investigation.

According to JTBC's 'Case Manager' on the 9th, Mr. A said that on the 3rd of last month, detectives who came to his home told him, "There has been a theft report at the supermarket," and "Your wife has been identified as a prime suspect. She must appear at the police station for questioning."

Mr. B, who was reported as a thief by a large supermarket, is looking around the liquor aisle of the supermarket.
[Photo by JTBC 'Sageonbanjang' capture]

The large supermarket reported that Mrs. B, the wife, stole goods worth 77,000 won, including dumplings and cheesecake. Mrs. B admitted that she did visit the supermarket that day but denied stealing anything. Nevertheless, she appeared at the police station and was questioned for about two hours.

Mr. A, believing his wife could not have done such a thing, went directly to the supermarket. The security team leader there said, "The CCTV footage clearly shows Mrs. B putting items into her personal bag and leaving the supermarket."

Mr. A then requested to review the CCTV footage and asked to discuss the matter again after watching it. Thirty minutes later, the security team leader returned and said, "There is nothing recorded on the CCTV," but added, "We still think it was enough to file a report."

Earlier, Mrs. B had told her husband that "I put the dumplings back on the shelf after placing them in the shopping cart, and I never put the cheesecake in the cart." Mr. A asked to see the CCTV footage, but the supermarket refused.

Later, the couple requested information disclosure from the police and reviewed the CCTV footage submitted by the supermarket. The video did not show Mrs. B putting the cheesecake into the cart.

The supermarket claimed, "The staff member who directly sold the items said the customer put the goods in the cart. However, since the cart was empty when the customer left, we suspected theft. There were suspicious circumstances."

Mrs. B was cleared of charges by the police, but she claimed that during the investigation, the police frequently visited and showed her photo to neighbors, leading to rumors in the neighborhood that she was a thief. Mrs. B experienced extreme stress during this process, was taken to the emergency room, and was hospitalized at a university hospital.

Mr. A said, "When I went to the supermarket to protest, they kept blaming the police, saying it was not their intention." He appealed, "Ultimately, this incident happened because the supermarket reported baseless claims, but they kept avoiding responsibility."

The branch manager of the supermarket apologized, saying, "So many people use the store that we could not check carefully before reporting," but added, "We regret that your wife was stressed, but it was not intentional on our part. There is nothing we can do."

The supermarket offered the customer a settlement of 300,000 won, but Mr. A rejected it, expressing frustration: "Is it acceptable for such a large supermarket to make baseless reports so freely? Even now, the branch manager shows no remorse about the report."