Twenty Years as "Fellow Parents" End in Multi-Billion-Won Fraud

Investment solicitations targeting parents of children's friends
Initially guaranteed returns, then suddenly vanished
Total damages approach 3 billion won according to victims
"Filed for bankruptcy, leaving us without practical relief"

A fraud case involving several billion won has occurred among parents who had grown close because their children attended the same school. The damage suffered by those deceived by an investment proposal that guaranteed the principal is reported to amount to several billion won.

A synthetic image composed by ChatGPT based on KakaoTalk messages and a court ruling related to a parents' fraud case.

On the 24th, the 11th Civil Division of the Seoul Northern District Court (Presiding Judge Shin Myunghee) announced that it had ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a damages lawsuit filed by A against B. The court ordered, "B shall pay 1,235,820,000 won to A, which has not been returned." Since B did not appear in court during the proceedings and did not present any substantive rebuttal, the court regarded B's conduct as an admission of all allegations and fully accepted A's claims.

A, a woman in her 50s, and B first became acquainted in 2005 as parents with children attending the same elementary school in Seongbuk District, Seoul. They later developed their friendship through parent gatherings and became close enough for their families to travel together. Their children were also close, to the point of attending college entrance briefings together.

The investment solicitation began in 2016, the 11th year of their acquaintance. At a parents' gathering, B brought up the topic of investment, saying, "My cousin, who works at an investment securities company, has assets worth about 20 billion won." B explained that by investing through this cousin, the principal would be guaranteed and the money could grow by more than 4-7% per month.

Reconstruction of the KakaoTalk message that A received from B.

B actually sent money on a regular basis under the pretext of profit distributions, thereby building trust, and then encouraged increasingly larger investments. B repeatedly emphasized that she herself had already invested principal of about 200 million won. She also reassured the victim by saying, "(My cousin) knows it is family members' money, so the principal is guaranteed."

A was not the only victim. B is reported to have solicited similar types of investments from a wide network of parents she had come to know when her child attended kindergarten, elementary school, and middle school. Multiple victims filed criminal complaints with the police, and in September last year the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office indicted B under detention on charges including violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. The investigation found that B had swindled 15 billion won from victims, and when including the claims of victims who filed separate complaints, the total approaches 28 billion won. Of this amount, it is reported that roughly 3 billion won has yet to be returned.

The amount A was deceived into sending B over eight years totals 3.2 billion won, of which more than 1.2 billion won has not been recovered. B reportedly cut off contact after giving excuses such as "the sale was delayed due to an audit of the investment securities company where my cousin works." Even after the civil judgment, A says there has been no practical relief because B has filed for bankruptcy. In a phone call, A's child said, "My parents have cut off all social gatherings and outings and are still receiving psychiatric treatment and taking medication," adding, "After putting our house and store up for sale, our lives have completely changed."

Meanwhile, the sentencing hearing in B's criminal trial is scheduled for March 16.