"Guaranteed High Profit" Electronics Store Employee Sentenced for Embezzling 2.6 Billion Won by Deceiving Department Store Customers

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] An employee of a department store tenant who deceived customers by guaranteeing high returns on event products and embezzled 2.6 billion KRW has been sentenced to imprisonment.

According to the legal community on the 12th, the 12th Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court sentenced A (39), who was indicted on charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to 1 year and 6 months in prison.

A worked as an employee of an electronics store tenant in a department store in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and deceived victim B, whom he met as a customer, by saying, "If you buy electronics event products at a low price in advance and sell them at the regular price, I will guarantee a 10% profit on the investment," receiving 7 million KRW by wire transfer and a total of 2.1 billion KRW over 195 transactions until July 2020.

He also deceived B’s husband by borrowing a credit card under his name, promising to provide gift certificates equivalent to 5% of the sales if he increased the electronics store’s sales, and made payments worth about 500 million KRW over 179 transactions from May 2018 to May 2020.

At that time, A had also received large investments from other investors and was unable to repay the principal and interest. It was investigated that A used the money for online gambling, living expenses, and debt rollover. Among this, 2.3 billion KRW was repaid, but 320 million KRW in damages remain.

The court stated the sentencing reasons, saying, "Considering the method and circumstances of the crime, the period and frequency of the offense, the guilt is heavy. The victim is suffering severe mental and economic distress due to the defendant’s crime and is pleading for severe punishment."

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