Siblings Fined for Defrauding Local Man with Intellectual Disability by Opening Mobile Accounts, Taking Loans, and Shopping

Loan of 2 Million Won, 3.57 Million Won Spent with Card
Court: "Sentence Reduced Due to Settlement with Victim"

Ulsan District Court. Photo by Asia Economy DB

A man and woman in their 30s, who grew up in the same neighborhood as a person with an intellectual disability, have been fined for opening mobile phone accounts and taking out loans in the disabled person's name.

On May 27, Judge Lee Jaewook, presiding judge of Criminal Division 3 at the Ulsan District Court, announced that he had sentenced a woman, identified as A, and a man, identified as B, both in their 30s, to a fine of 10 million won each on charges including quasi-fraud.

The siblings, A and B, deceived C, a person with a severe intellectual disability, in April 2023 by telling C, "If you let us open a mobile phone account in your name, we will pay the bills on time and will not make any small payments." They then opened one mobile phone account each in C's name. Contrary to their promise, they used the phones registered under C's name and failed to pay the bills for about seven months, each accumulating more than 1.5 million won in unpaid fees.

Additionally, A accessed a bank website using the mobile phone registered in C's name, took out a loan of 2 million won, diverted about half of the funds to her own account and others, and accessed the bank's app to issue a mobile app card. She then used this app card to make 131 purchases totaling 3.57 million won at online shopping malls over a two-month period.

B, the older brother, learned that C had taken out a bank loan and asked C to "lend him money," receiving a transfer of 2.6 million won to his own account. He also verbally abused C, shouting at him and subjecting him to emotional abuse.

The siblings committed these crimes knowing well that C had an intellectual disability, as they had grown up in the same neighborhood with C since childhood.

The court stated, "Defendant A has a previous conviction for a similar offense, and B committed this crime during the repeat offender period for another crime. However, the court took into account that both defendants admitted to all charges and reached a settlement with the victim on the condition of returning part of the stolen funds."