"Kia Motors Full-Time Job Promise"... Pastor and Associates Extort 13 Billion Won from Congregants for Gambling and BJ Sponsorships

[Image source = Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] The prosecution has arrested and indicted a man in his 30s and a pastor in his 50s for deceiving job seekers by promising regular employment at Kia Motors and embezzling over 13 billion KRW. It was confirmed that most of the embezzled money was used for illegal gambling and supporting BJ broadcasts.

According to the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office on the 18th, the prosecution arrested and indicted Mr. A (35) at the end of last month on charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Mr. A is accused of deceiving about 630 church members he met since 2018 by promising to hire them as regular workers in the production sector at Kia Motors and embezzling over 13 billion KRW.

Mr. A allegedly pretended that he had been hired as a regular employee by paying money while working at a partner company and told the victims, "I will hire you as non-regular workers at the partner company and then transfer you to regular positions at the Gwangju plant."

Mr. A extorted an average of 10 million to 50 million KRW per person and reportedly squandered most of the embezzled money on illegal gambling. He admitted to spending about 11 billion KRW on illegal gambling and purchasing virtual gifts (star balloons) on internet broadcasts.

While living in hiding in the metropolitan area, renting foreign cars, and buying luxury goods, Mr. A was found to have only a few tens of millions of KRW in cash at the time of arrest.

Pastor Mr. B (52) was also arrested and indicted on charges of fraud for receiving about 2 billion KRW from dozens of job seekers, some of which he passed on to Mr. A and some he used personally.

Investigations revealed that Mr. A introduced a fictitious person as the president of a partner company to Mr. B and presented false documents related to Kia Motors.

The victims of the employment fraud claim that Pastor B is the main culprit and have requested an expansion of the investigation to include other pastors. They have reported a total of 10 people, including Mr. A, Mr. B, and other pastors, to the prosecution.

Furthermore, the victims strongly argue that Pastor B’s intentional fraud was evident as he received application documents from job seekers, stored them unopened at his residence, and yet the police failed to secure evidence. They demand an accurate assessment of the damage and prosecution under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes for fraud.

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