1st Trial: 1 Year 2 Months Imprisonment, Business Owner Appeals
A man in his 40s was sentenced to prison after being tried on charges including extorting tens of millions of won from intoxicated customers by luring them into the entertainment bar he operated through solicitation. A bar employee who was tried for participating in the crime received a suspended prison sentence.
According to the legal community on the 7th, Hwang Hae-cheol, judge of the Criminal Division 3 at the Wonju Branch of Chuncheon District Court, sentenced A (45), who was arrested and indicted on charges of quasi-fraud, fraud, and violation of the Act on the Punishment of Acts of Arranging Sexual Traffic (arranging prostitution), to 1 year and 2 months in prison. The entertainment bar employee B (37) was sentenced to 10 months in prison with a 2-year suspension, and was ordered to undergo probation and perform 240 hours of community service.
The owner, who also arranged prostitution, deceived a customer who came the next day complaining about excessive bar charges by promising to cancel the card payment if cash was deposited. When the investigation began, he threatened some victims to withdraw their reports by exploiting their vulnerability of having visited the entertainment establishment.
A, who operates the entertainment bar, was indicted for luring C at around 4:38 a.m. on February 9 through B’s solicitation, telling him "prepayment of 300,000 won," and having a female hostess accompany him to drink quickly, resulting in a payment of 2.1 million won within 1 hour and 40 minutes.
At that time, A told C, "If you prepay 300,000 won for drinks and entertainment expenses, you can drink and have fun. If you give me your card, I will withdraw the prepaid amount," then took his card and confirmed the PIN, committing the crime by this method.
Moreover, on March 21, A arranged sexual acts between D, who came to the bar through solicitation, and two female hostesses, and shared the profits received as compensation, which was added to the indictment for arranging prostitution. It was confirmed that D paid 4.02 million won by card at that time.
On the same day at around 8:10 p.m., when D came to complain that the bar charges were excessive, A deceived him by saying, "If you transfer 3.2 million won to the account, I will cancel the card payment of 4.02 million won," received the cash transfer, but did not cancel the card payment, thus facing fraud charges.
A exploited the fact that some victims did not want their visits to the entertainment establishment to be known, threatening them to withdraw complaints or reports, and also extorted money again from victims who came to recover their losses.
The court stated, "The defendant induced victims who visited the entertainment establishment to become heavily intoxicated and then extorted large sums of money under the pretext of bar charges, etc. Considering the very poor attitude during the police investigation, the nature of the crime, and the circumstances after the crime, the sentence was determined."
However, A and others appealed the first trial verdict.
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