"Why Haven't You Paid Back?" 30s Person Falsely Reports Voice Phishing... Suspended Sentence in First Trial

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] A man in his 30s who was accused of falsely reporting that he was a victim of voice phishing after not receiving the money he lent on time was sentenced to probation in the first trial.

On the 30th, Judge Park Sung-gyu of the Criminal Division 4 at Seoul Southern District Court announced that he recently sentenced Kang (39), who was indicted on charges of attempted extortion and obstruction of official duties by deception, to one year in prison with two years of probation. He was also ordered to perform 180 hours of community service.

Kang was indicted on charges of falsely reporting to the police that victim A’s account was involved in voice phishing fraud and causing the bank to freeze A’s account after lending 3 million won to A’s younger sibling in July last year and not receiving the money back on time.

Afterward, when A refused to repay the money, saying "I cannot send the money because it is a false voice phishing report," Kang was also charged with attempted extortion.

Judge Park stated, "The defendant’s abuse of the victim relief system resulted in investigative resources and funds, which should have been focused on actual victims of financial fraud, not being used according to the original purpose of the system, which is a serious offense," but added "the defendant admitted his wrongdoing and showed remorse, the false victim relief application was made only once, and the extortion crime was only attempted," explaining the reasons for sentencing.

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