Man in 30s Sentenced to 4 Years for Large-Scale Mask Supply Fraud

Accused of Embezzling 852 Million Won

Seoul Central District Court / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A man in his 30s who was indicted for deceiving victims by promising to supply health masks at low prices and pocketing hundreds of millions of won was sentenced to prison in the first trial.

According to the legal community on the 25th, the Criminal Division 33 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Donghwan Son) sentenced Lee (35), who was tried on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to four years in prison. The court pointed out, "The defendant's deceptive acts against the victims were planned and bold, and the method of the crime was not good," adding, "Despite the considerable amount of damage, the defendant neither made substantial restitution nor received forgiveness from the victims." However, the court also stated, "It took into account that the portion personally acquired and consumed by the defendant was only a part of the total embezzled amount."

Lee was indicted on charges of embezzling 852 million won by deceiving victims into believing he operated a mask manufacturing company and would supply masks in large quantities during the mask shortage caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) last February. During this process, Lee showed videos of a mask factory that did not actually exist and deceived victims by saying, "We are mass-producing health masks using equipment operated by robots." It was also investigated that he spread false information, claiming, "We have close relationships with other famous mask manufacturers and can supply masks in bulk at 1,100 won per piece."

Due to this fraudulent activity, victim A paid 600 million won as a deposit for a contract to supply 2 million masks, and another victim B paid 252 million won as a deposit for a contract to supply 250,000 masks. However, it was revealed that Lee used the money received from the victims to repay personal debts and cover living expenses.

During the trial, Lee's side argued that there was no intention to embezzle the mask payments. They emphasized that although Lee lacked the ability to manufacture masks, he had paid over 200 million won to a manufacturer to supply masks. However, the court did not accept this argument, stating, "At the time of the crime, there were many people wishing to purchase masks, and it was difficult to find mask suppliers with supply capacity." The court ruled, "It appears that the defendant accepted the risk that mask supply would become impossible when receiving deposits from the victims," and "Considering that only a portion of the damage was used for mask supply, it is reasonably certain that the defendant had the intent to embezzle."

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