After Issuing 7 Billion Won in Checks, Payment Failure Due to 'Insufficient Deposits'... Business Owner Sentenced to Prison

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A businessman who issued 122 checks totaling 7 billion KRW and caused them to become unpayable due to 'insufficient funds and transaction suspension' has been sentenced to imprisonment. A check refers to a check issued by a corporation or a business owner who has opened a checking account at a bank.

According to the court on the 13th, Judge Park Heegeun of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 18 recently sentenced Mr. A (60, male), who was indicted for violating the Act on the Control of Dishonored Checks, to 3 years and 6 months in prison in the first trial.

Previously, Mr. A operated B store in Dongdaemun Market, Seoul, and had been conducting checking account transactions under his name at a branch of a small and medium-sized bank in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul for about 25 years.

According to the prosecution, from April last year to February this year, he issued 122 checks with blank issue dates worth between 50 million and 95 million KRW at his store office under his name and conducted transactions with victims using these checks. The total amount of checks issued by Mr. A was identified to be approximately 7 billion KRW.

However, the victims could not withdraw money even though they supplemented the payment period of the checks given by Mr. A and visited the bank within the presentation period. This was because Mr. A's account was in a 'transaction suspension' status due to insufficient funds. It is reported that Mr. A's business is currently bankrupt, making it difficult to reach an agreement with the victims.

Article 2, Paragraph 2 of the current Act on the Control of Dishonored Checks stipulates that "If a person who issued or wrote a check causes it not to be paid on the presentation date due to insufficient funds, transaction suspension, cancellation or termination of the check contract, they shall be punished by imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 10 times the amount of the check."

Judge Park criticized, "Not only did this cause serious damage to the check holders and others, but it also undermined the general public's trust in check circulation and damaged sound transaction order," adding, "The nature of the crime is not good." He also stated, "The defendant admitted to each offense in this case, has no prior criminal record, and the sentence was determined considering all sentencing factors."

Mr. A appealed against this ruling.

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