Fists Over Law? Men Who Tracked Down Mask Sales Scammers, Detained and Assaulted Them, Held Hostage Receive Suspended Sentences

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] "They probably thought fists were closer than the law, but this is the result. Make sure this never happens again."

The court sentenced men who, after being scammed in a mask sale, directly confronted the fraudsters, demanding "Where is the money?" and held them captive, assaulted them, and staged a hostage situation, to suspended prison terms. It was taken into consideration that they were both perpetrators and victims of the fraud crime.

According to the legal community on the 25th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 33 (Chief Judge No Hoseong) recently sentenced A (25), B (28), and C (34), who work in the entertainment industry and were indicted on charges including attempted hostage robbery, to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspension each.

The court stated, "The defendants jointly conspired to confine the victim, inflict injury, and take him hostage to demand money, which is a serious offense," but added, "However, in some relationships with the victim, the defendants were also victims of the fraud. They were greatly angered after being scammed and tried to recover the embezzled money, and victim D expressed that he did not want them to be punished, and other sentencing conditions were taken into account," the court explained.

On March 21 of last year, A and others transferred 17.5 million won to D and E, brothers who posted that they were selling 50,000 KF94 masks at 2,500 won each for use at their establishment, but after realizing it was a scam, they directly confronted D, confined and assaulted him, and attempted to take money from E by holding D hostage, but failed and were brought to trial on these charges.

At that time, A and others lured D late at night as if to place an additional mask order, put him in a car, assaulted him saying, "Where is the money? I'll bury you in the mountain and kill you," and, based on D's statement that "all the money is with my brother," took him to his home in Asan, Chungnam Province, confined him, and called E.

During this process, A and others also assaulted F (male, 29), D's cohabitant, considering him an accomplice, and even monitored and detained G, F's cousin who came to check on him.

However, when a police officer called D's phone, they took only D to a motel in Seoul and confined him again until 1:30 a.m. on the 23rd of the same month, and contacted E saying, "If you deposit all the money from the fraud, we will release my brother," according to the investigation.

At the previous sentencing hearing, the prosecution requested the court to sentence them to 2 years in prison each. A and others, who admitted all charges in court, pleaded for leniency, saying, "We lost control of our emotions and made a mistake," and "We are sorry for causing trouble in society."

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