20s Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Over 800 Million Won from 20 People by Luring with Low-Interest Loans

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Two men in their 20s who extorted over 800 million won from about 20 victims by promising to help them obtain low-interest loans were sentenced to prison.

On the 12th, according to the legal community, Judge Jeon Kyung-se of the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 9 sentenced Jang (27) and Choi (28), who were indicted on charges of fraud and violation of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, to three years and one year and six months in prison, respectively.

Additionally, they were ordered to compensate three victims a total of about 130 million won, and Jang, who committed the crimes alone, was further ordered to compensate two victims a total of about 60 million won.

In April 2019, Jang, who was an employee of a loan company, deceived Ms. A by saying, "I consulted with your husband about a loan, but additional loans were not possible," and "If you take out a new loan in your name and send the money to me, I will repay your husband's existing loan and help him get a new loan in his name," receiving 6 million won.

Using this method, Jang embezzled about 410 million won from 12 victims. From September last year, he continued the fraudulent activities by operating a loan company with Choi.

They called victims and said, "If you fully repay your previous loan, your credit rating will improve, allowing you to get a low-interest loan. We will help you repay it, so take out a new loan and send it to the account we designate." Using this method, they received about 450 million won from 17 victims over approximately four months and used the money for living expenses and company operating costs. They also used shell accounts and burner phones to evade investigation agencies' tracking.

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