Elderly Organization Leader Involved in Voice Phishing by Impersonating Bank Employee... Sentenced to Prison in First Trial

70s Mr. Kim Claims "Thought It Was an Ad for Senior Part-Time Jobs"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] The chairman of an elderly welfare-related organization, accused of impersonating a bank employee and acting as a cash collector for a telephone financial fraud (voice phishing) organization, was sentenced to imprisonment in the first trial.

On the 26th, Judge Gong Seongbong of the Criminal Division 6 at the Seoul Western District Court announced that Kim (72), who was indicted on charges of fraud, was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison.

Judge Gong stated, "The voice phishing crime causes serious social harm, and the nature of the crime is not good," adding, "There are three victims, the amount defrauded is approximately 141 million KRW, which is considerable, and the damages have not been recovered."

However, Judge Gong explained the sentencing by saying, "The defendant appears to have participated with indirect intent by following instructions from higher-level organization members to perform roles such as cash collection without fully understanding the overall structure of the crime," and "The actual benefit the defendant gained from this crime is not large compared to the amount defrauded."

Kim received an offer from a voice phishing organization member he met through a mobile messenger advertisement in July last year, promising a 150,000 KRW allowance per case if he received cash from victims and handed it over to other organization members.

Subsequently, from late July to August last year, Kim approached victims while impersonating a bank employee. He was indicted on charges of receiving cash from victims on the condition of repaying all existing loans under the pretense of applying for new loans and delivering the cash to voice phishing organization members.

In court, Kim reportedly claimed that he misunderstood the advertisement seeking elderly part-time workers as simply a "fieldwork part-time job related to debt collection."

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