Arrested a Friend for Sex Trafficking in Southeast Asia and Extorted Money... "Even Involved the Police"

Arrested for Prostitution, Claimed "Can Settle If Paid"
Court: "Considering Method and Victims, Crime Is Very Serious"

A group that orchestrated the arrest of a longtime friend on prostitution charges in Southeast Asia and then extorted a large sum of money using this as leverage was sentenced to prison. It was revealed that they meticulously planned the crime, even arranging with local police in advance.

According to the legal community on the 6th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 30 (Presiding Judge Kang Doo-rye) sentenced Park Mo (64), the ringleader who was arrested and indicted on charges of extortion under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violation of the Act on the Regulation of Concealment of Criminal Proceeds, to five years in prison. Kwon Mo (58), who was also indicted, was sentenced to four years in prison, and Kim Mo (67) was sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year probation.

Investigations revealed that their crime was a premeditated "set-up crime" (a method where a person with no intention of committing a crime is deliberately approached and framed as a criminal to extort money).

Park targeted Mr. A, whom he first met around 2002 at a golf course and had played golf with in gatherings for over 20 years.

Before Mr. A and other members of their golf social club, including Park himself, departed for Cambodia on June 30 last year, Park arranged with a local broker to secure cooperation from Cambodian police.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Then, on July 3, Kwon induced Mr. A to engage in prostitution with a local woman, and the Cambodian police, who had been prearranged, arrested Mr. A and Kwon the next day on charges of prostitution involving minors.

Park pressured Mr. A by having another financial manager act as an interpreter, warning that he could be detained in Cambodia for a long time and saying, "If you pay one million dollars, it might be resolved." Ultimately, Mr. A was only released after transferring 1.3 billion won to a domestic account the following day.

After returning to Korea, the group was confirmed to have cashed the 1.3 billion won by breaking it down from large-denomination checks into smaller ones at various banks to avoid being traced and then divided the money among themselves.

The court stated, "This case involved pre-planned crimes with roles divided among accomplices, and considering the means, methods, number of accomplices, and amount of damage, the nature of the crime is quite severe. In particular, Park’s planning and overseeing the crime against a victim he had known as a friend for over 20 years makes it even more condemnable," explaining the sentencing rationale.

However, the court also noted, "We took into account that the defendants admitted to the crime and showed remorse, and that part of the damages, approximately 750 million won, appears to have been recovered."

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