Revealing Her Life Behind Bars
"Jeon Cheongjo's Fraudulent Schemes Were Beyond Imagination"
It has been alleged that Jeon Cheongjo, who impersonated an illegitimate child of a chaebol family and committed fraud amounting to billions of won from victims, also deceived fellow inmates while in prison in the past.
On May 12, the MBC Every1 program "Hidden Eye" reported on Jeon Cheongjo's life during her previous incarceration, while she is currently serving a prison sentence. Jeon Cheongjo had previously been sentenced to two years and three months in prison in 2020 on charges of extorting approximately 300 million won from about ten people.
Profiler Kwon Ilyong, who appeared on the broadcast, stated, "Jeon Cheongjo's fraudulent activities during her incarceration were beyond imagination," and added, "She pretended to be pregnant to receive preferential treatment and live comfortably, deceiving even other fraudsters who were inmates with her." He also revealed that Jeon Cheongjo entered into a marriage through pen-pal correspondence with a male inmate and later even dated a foreign inmate in the women's prison.
Jeon Cheongjo, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges of fraud by impersonating a third-generation chaebol heir. Yonhap News
After her release, Jeon Cheongjo met Nam Hyunhee at a fencing academy. At the time, she pretended to be a man and developed a romantic relationship with Nam Hyunhee. Later, in August 2023, Nam Hyunhee announced her remarriage to Jeon Cheongjo in an interview with a women's magazine, which sparked controversy regarding Jeon Cheongjo's gender.
In the interview, Jeon Cheongjo claimed that she was born in the United States, majored in equestrian studies in New York, and was active as a horseback rider. She also stated that she was running education businesses in the arts and sports, as well as IT-related businesses, both domestically and internationally. However, it was later revealed that Jeon Cheongjo was not a man but a woman, and her claim of being a third-generation chaebol heir with assets of 51 trillion won was also false.
Profiler Kwon explained, "When Jeon Cheongjo first came to learn fencing from Nam Hyunhee, she revealed that she was a woman. She said she was born male but had a physical abnormality, and claimed to have undergone gender reassignment surgery at age 25. She even showed Nam Hyunhee a photo, saying it was her as a child wearing boys' clothes, but this was also a lie. She had shown a photo of her younger brother, pretending it was herself."
Meanwhile, Jeon Cheongjo was indicted on charges of fraudulently obtaining more than 3 billion won from 27 victims she met at an online side-job seminar, while pretending to be a second-generation chaebol with great wealth. In November 2023, she was sentenced to 13 years in prison for fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and is currently serving her sentence.
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