"Investing in Gold Bar Imports Promises High Returns"…Bank Branch Manager Sentenced for Defrauding Customers of Hundreds of Millions

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] A bank branch manager who deceived customers by claiming that investing in a business importing gold bars from Africa and other regions would yield high returns, and pocketed hundreds of millions of won, was sentenced to prison in the first trial.

According to the legal community on the 16th, the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Park Jeong-gil) sentenced A (59), who was indicted for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud), to three years in prison on the 10th, and co-defendant B (55) to one year and six months in prison.

A, who was a branch manager at a commercial bank in Seoul, was prosecuted on charges of deceiving customer C by saying in 2014, "If you invest money in a business importing gold bars from Ghana, Malaysia, Hong Kong, etc., we will return the principal plus 30%," and collected over 500 million won in 19 installments. Among the amount lost, A alone embezzled 220 million won.

A, together with acquaintance B, claimed they would operate a gold bar import business, but investigations revealed that even if they received investments, they had neither the intention nor the ability to properly run the gold bar import business and pay back the principal and profits.

They failed to properly verify that individuals cannot import gold without going through the government in Ghana and other countries, and did not hire any essential personnel such as foreign language-proficient staff or personnel responsible for securing business partners, which are indispensable for trading businesses, Judge Park ruled.

Judge Park explained the sentencing by stating, "The defendants deceived from the beginning by presenting a business with almost no feasibility as a business with guaranteed profitability," and added, "The damage has not been restored, and the victims have not forgiven them."

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