Cybercrime Overseas Worth 46 Billion KRW... 13 Years Imprisonment and 17 Billion KRW Fine 'Severe Sentence'

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The mastermind behind illegal websites operating overseas, including illegal stock trading and gambling sites, who pocketed up to 46 billion won, was sentenced to 13 years in prison in the appellate court as well. The confiscation order was set at 17 billion won.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 9 (Chief Judges Moon Gwangseop, Park Youngwook, Hwang Seongmi) sentenced 57-year-old Lee Mo, who was tried on 15 charges including fraud, to 13 years in prison and ordered confiscation of 16,929,780,000 won.

Lee is accused of pocketing 3 billion won by operating free mobile fortune-telling consultation services, illegal gambling sites, and foreign lottery purchasing agency sites in Vietnam and other countries. He is also accused of establishing a company in Bangkok, Thailand, in May 2012 and running illegal futures and stock trading sites, defrauding 231 people of 43.1 billion won over five years.

Lee was repatriated to Korea only in April last year. It was confirmed that during that time, Lee managed most of the criminal proceeds overseas and enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle in Thailand and Vietnam.

The first and second trial courts recognized all 14 charges except for the charge of organizing a criminal organization among Lee’s 15 charges as guilty. However, the charge of organizing a criminal organization was judged not guilty on the grounds that the employees of the company Lee operated did not share the purpose of the crime. In the first trial, Lee was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but no order was made for confiscation or seizure of criminal proceeds.

Both the defendant and the prosecution appealed the appellate court’s ruling to the Supreme Court.

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