Seoul Central District Court Sentences to 5 Years Imprisonment
"Crime Committed During Recidivism Period... Bad Nature of Crime"
A man in his 30s who swindled over 25 million won by using a method of placing the finger of a drunken pedestrian on a mobile phone for fingerprint recognition to transfer money was sentenced to prison. On the 5th, Yonhap News reported that the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 24 (Chief Judge Choi Kyung-seo) sentenced Jang (33), who was detained and prosecuted on charges including robbery and injury, and computer-related fraud, to five years in prison. The court also ordered Jang to compensate a total of 25.5 million won.
Jang was tried on charges of approaching three drunken pedestrians in the Gangnam area of Seoul in June last year and manipulating their mobile phones to embezzle money. At the time of the crime, Jang searched for drunken people who could not properly control their bodies on the street, found his targets, pretended to support them, and took them to places without closed-circuit television (CCTV) to commit the crime. During this process, he also assaulted the victims, causing injuries requiring two weeks of medical treatment. Jang is accused of running mobile banking on the phones of the intoxicated individuals and then placing their fingers on the phones for fingerprint recognition to transfer 25.5 million won to his own account. He even took out loans in the victims’ names and sent the money to his own account.
After the crime, Jang took the victims’ mobile phones and threatened them when they called, saying things like "You molested my wife" and "You vomited on my clothes and car," attempting to extort additional settlement money. He committed this crime during his recidivist period after being released in May 2022 following imprisonment for fraud. Police investigations revealed that Jang had no spouse and was known to have lived without a fixed residence, frequently staying at PC rooms at the time of the crime.
The court pointed out, "The method of the crime was highly violent, and considering that the defendant continued additional crimes even after embezzling the victims’ money, the defendant’s criminal nature is very poor." It added, "Nevertheless, the defendant consistently made incomprehensible excuses, claiming that the victims first insulted or assaulted him and sent compensation money." The court explained the sentencing by stating, "The defendant committed the crime during the recidivist period, so severe punishment corresponding to the guilt is inevitable." However, the court acquitted Jang of some charges of extortion, theft, and violation of the Information and Communications Network Act, stating that the prosecution’s allegations were not proven. Both Jang and the prosecution appealed after the first trial verdict.
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