"'Big Spender' Jang Young-ja, 4 Years Imprisonment in Appeal... 'Fourth Arrest'"

Jang Young-ja (75), known as the so-called "big hand" from the notorious promissory note fraud case in the 1980s, was sentenced to imprisonment in the appellate trial for her fourth fraud case.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Suwan] Jang Young-ja (75), known as the so-called 'big hand' for a notorious promissory note fraud case in the 1980s, has been sentenced to prison in the appellate trial for her fourth fraud case.

The Criminal Division 50 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Byung-soo) on the 6th sentenced Jang to four years in prison on charges of fraud and forgery of securities, upholding the original verdict.

The court explained, "Sufficient evidence was presented to recognize Jang's guilt for both fraud and forgery of securities," adding, "We have decided not to accept Jang's claim of factual error."

Jang did not appear in court citing a cold and flu. Notably, she also did not attend the sentencing hearing in the first trial.

Regarding this, the court stated, "Since last year, Jang has continuously said she would not attend the sentencing date," and "According to reports submitted by the detention center, despite several attempts to compel her attendance, due to her advanced age and being female, it is difficult to forcibly bring her to court," explaining the reason for sentencing in her absence.

Previously, the first trial recognized all charges as guilty, stating, "The total amount of fraud damage reached 500 million won," and sentenced her to four years in prison.

Jang is accused of embezzling a total of 620 million won from acquaintances in three instances between July 2015 and May 2017. It is known that she deceived the victims by claiming that she needed cash for inheritance to establish a Buddhist foundation under the name of her late husband Lee Cheol-hee (former Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency) or that she required business funds.

This is Jang's fourth detention on fraud charges. During the Chun Doo-hwan regime in 1982, she was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a promissory note fraud amounting to 640 billion won and was paroled after 10 years in 1992. Afterwards, she was sentenced to four years in prison and detained again in 1994 for a 14 billion won loan fraud case. She was released again in 1998 by a special pardon on Liberation Day but was detained and prosecuted for the third time in 2000 for a 22 billion won old currency case and was released in January 2015.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.