"Stock and Coin Loss Recovery" Flea's Liver-Squeezing Gang Faces Trial

Deceiving Victims for a Second Crime

The operator of a victim group cafe, who committed a secondary fraud by deceiving victims of stock or coin investment scams into believing their losses would be recovered, has been indicted while in custody.

Yonhap News

On the 20th, the Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jo Jae-cheol) announced that they had arrested and indicted Baek Mo (51), the head of a similar investment advisory firm, on charges of fraud and violation of the Capital Markets Act, and indicted his accomplice employee Lee Mo (31) without detention.

According to the prosecution, they are accused of approaching victims of stock or coin investment scams and committing secondary crimes by deceiving them into believing their losses would be recovered and embezzling money.

Prosecutors' investigation revealed that from June 2022 to August last year, they operated an internet portal cafe for victims of stock and coin investment scams, gained the trust of the victims they met there, and deceived them into paying membership fees by claiming that joining Baek’s similar investment advisory firm would help recover their losses. Baek embezzled a total of 160 million won from 10 victims using this method.

Additionally, Baek, despite not being a lawyer, received about 197 million won under the pretense of preparing legal documents such as complaints or directly mediating to help victims recover investment funds from the offending companies.

A prosecution official stated, "Considering the seriousness of the case where victims were hurt twice by exploiting their desperate situations, we have taken measures to recover the profits acquired by Baek," and added, "We will continue to respond strictly to investment fraud and related crimes targeting ordinary citizens and make every effort to protect investors."