40s Legally Imprisoned for Extorting 20 Million Won in Living Expenses Under the Pretense of Marriage

A woman in her 40s was sentenced to imprisonment in court for deceiving a man she was dating into believing they would get married and extorting tens of millions of won from him. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lim Juhyung] A man in his 40s who was accused of deceiving men into believing he would marry them and receiving large sums of money has been detained.

The Cheongju District Court Criminal Division 5 (Judge Jeong Yeonju) announced on the 16th that A (41), who was indicted without detention on charges of fraud, was sentenced to six months in prison and taken into custody in court.

The court stated, "The defendant and the victim rented wedding attire and talked about the wedding and meeting the families during phone calls," adding, "From the victim's perspective, they would have sincerely believed that the defendant would marry them."

Furthermore, the court explained the sentencing reason, saying, "Considering that the defendant sent messages to the victim, who knew he had a husband, such as 'I will divorce my husband' and 'We are a married couple,' it can be recognized that the victim was deceived and money was fraudulently obtained."

A is accused of deceiving B, whom he was dating in 2018, into believing they would marry and extorting money.

At that time, A told B, "Before my husband died, I ran a business under my name and became credit impaired," and received 20 million won in 16 installments from B.

However, A's husband was alive and their marital relationship was still intact.

In court, A denied the charges, stating, "I never demanded money from B first, and even after B found out I had a husband, (B) continued to send money," but the court did not accept A's claims.

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