Man in His 50s Sentenced to Prison Again on Appeal for Impersonating Prosecutor in Fraud Case

Claimed "I didn't know" after causing 2 billion won in damages
Court acknowledges conspiracy... Considers previous similar offenses

A man in his 50s, who became involved in a 'prosecutor impersonation scam' and created additional victims after failing to recover money he had lent to an acquaintance, was sentenced to prison again on appeal.

According to the legal community on the 2nd, the Gwangju High Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Lee Euikyung) upheld the first trial's sentence of six years in prison for Mr. A, who was indicted on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Mr. A, together with accomplice Mr. B, was indicted on charges of receiving approximately 2 billion won from four acquaintances under the pretext of lawsuit expenses. The victims were acquaintances of Mr. A, including Jeollanam-do provincial government officials and people involved in National Assembly election funds, whom Mr. A had met while running a printing business.

The crime began when Mr. A failed to recover money he had lent to Mr. B. To make up for his own losses, Mr. A, along with Mr. B, started borrowing money from other acquaintances. To reassure the creditors, he even gave them Mr. B's number, telling them to "speak with a prosecutor." Mr. B then pretended to be a prosecutor during phone calls to put them at ease.

During the appeal trial, Mr. A denied conspiring with Mr. B, claiming he was unaware of Mr. B's fraudulent activities. However, the court ruled, "Mr. A made no effort to verify the substance of Mr. B's lawsuits, and it is clear that the method of impersonating a prosecutor was premeditated and executed together."

The court also stated, "Mr. A has a previous conviction for a similar fraud and, despite serving a sentence, repeated the same type of crime," and upheld the original verdict.