"Got a Job After Taking a 50 Million Won Loan..." CEO Who Swindled Billions and Disappeared [Economic Crime 24 Hours]

Inducing Purchase of Foreign Cars Worth Tens of Millions
Ownership Transfer Under the Pretext of Vehicle Management

"Recruiting Chauffeur Drivers. High Income Guaranteed"

In April 2020, when COVID-19 was rampant, Mr. Kim, in his 40s, who was looking for a job, contacted the phone number listed in an online job posting for a driver position. After submitting his resume and various documents and attending an interview, Mr. Kim finally received a "final acceptance" notification. Having barely succeeded in getting a job, Mr. Kim received a somewhat puzzling proposal during a meeting with the company representative, Mr. A (31).

Parked foreign car. Photo by Yonhap News

The gist of Mr. A's proposal to Mr. Kim was that to work as a chauffeur driver, he needed to purchase a luxury foreign car. The reason was that on days with work, he would drive the chauffeur vehicle, but on days without work, he could also run a rental car business to generate income.

When Mr. Kim hesitated at the idea of investing tens of millions of won immediately, Mr. A persuaded him by saying, "The company will manage the vehicle anyway, and you can sell it again when you resign, so there is nothing to worry about." In the end, desperate for a job, Mr. Kim took out a car loan from a capital company and purchased a used foreign car worth about 50 million won.

After Mr. Kim purchased the vehicle, Mr. A recommended transferring the ownership to the company for reasons such as vehicle management. Since Mr. Kim had signed an employment contract, he judged that there would be no problem in regaining ownership later and obediently followed Mr. A's advice.

However, contrary to Mr. A's initial explanation that there would be plenty of work, Mr. Kim had no opportunity to drive the chauffeur vehicle for over a month. He also did not receive any settlement for the income generated from the rental business. Whenever Mr. Kim asked when he could start driving, Mr. A would evade the question with various excuses. Then, less than two months after Mr. Kim was employed, in May 2020, Mr. A disappeared.

Realizing belatedly that he had been deceived, Mr. Kim tried to find Mr. A’s whereabouts, but it was impossible to locate him as he had gone into hiding. The vehicle Mr. Kim had purchased with tens of millions of won also vanished without a trace. Eventually, Mr. Kim filed a police complaint against Mr. A on charges of fraud.

The Investigation Division 2 of Uijeongbu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, which received the case, found that several similar employment fraud cases had been reported nationwide, not just Mr. Kim’s. The police identified 10 victims, and the total value of the vehicles handed over to Mr. A amounted to about 700 million won. Investigation Division 2 merged all related cases from various stations and launched an investigation, but Mr. A’s whereabouts remained unknown.

The police investigation, which had been stagnant for years, gained momentum in October this year. This was right after Mr. A was listed on the National Police Agency’s comprehensive wanted list for major suspects. Following the public announcement of the list, Mr. A came to Uijeongbu Police Station, expressing his intention to surrender. However, during the police investigation, Mr. A consistently denied his crimes. Consequently, based on the investigation, the police arrested Mr. A and sent eight others who had led the crimes with him to prosecution without detention.