Man in His 50s Registers at Boxing Gym, Pays with Venezuelan Currency and Collects Change

Paid With Old Foreign Currency No Longer in Circulation and Collected Change

A man in his 50s has been sentenced to prison for paying a registration fee with foreign currency that is no longer in circulation and even collecting change.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Judge Jeong Sunyeol of the Busan District Court Criminal Division 11 sentenced Mr. A to three months in prison on November 27 for fraud charges.

Venezuelan Bolivar currency. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. Screenshot from the Central Bank of Venezuela's X account.

Mr. A was accused of paying a membership fee of 300,000 won with 1,000 Venezuelan bolivars at a boxing gym in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, on June 25 last year, and then collecting 200,000 won in change.

At the time, Mr. A claimed that 1,000 bolivars could be exchanged for 525,000 won. However, the currency he provided was an old note that was no longer in circulation in Venezuela and had no value as money. Furthermore, investigations revealed that Mr. A never intended to register as a boxing club member in the first place.

It was also revealed that Mr. A had previously been sentenced to two years and six months in prison for fraud and for using forged foreign currency.

The court stated, "Mr. A has repeatedly committed similar fraud offenses and has already been sentenced to two years and six months in prison for the same method, yet continues to repeat the crime, and the damages have not been recovered." The court added, "Taking into account Mr. A's confession and the fact that the amount defrauded was relatively small, the sentence was determined accordingly."