"Wedding Photography and Dress Rental Promised" Fraud on 300 Prospective Couples, Embezzling 600 Million Won... Wedding Preparation Agency Owner Sentenced

A wedding preparation agent who was accused of swindling over 600 million won from more than 300 prospective couples by promising wedding photography and dress rental services was sentenced to prison.

According to the legal community on the 5th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 (Judge Ha Jin-woo) recently sentenced Mr. A (52), who was indicted on fraud charges, to 3 years and 4 months in prison and ordered his immediate detention.

From January 2020 to December 2021, Mr. A operated a wedding preparation agency in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and is accused of deceiving 328 victims by promising to provide studio wedding photography, wedding dress rentals, hair and makeup services, and embezzling a total of 618.29 million won.

At that time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many weddings were postponed, causing Mr. A’s business revenue to deteriorate. He engaged in a "Ponzi scheme" by using contract payments from new customers to provide services and refunds to existing customers.

In particular, debts to studios and dress companies, as well as severance pay owed to employees, accumulated, making it impossible to provide wedding preparation services smoothly. Nevertheless, he continued to sign contracts with victims and receive money.

Additionally, Mr. A failed to pay approximately 84 million won for 191 sessions of photography fees after signing contracts with wedding photography studios for wedding photo shoots and album production, according to investigations.

The court stated the sentencing reason, saying, "There are many victims and the amount of damage is huge, yet no restitution has been made at all, and the victims have not forgiven him."

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