Married Woman Who Hired Fake Single Parents and Guests for Wedding Scam Sentenced to Prison

Pretending to be Single Despite Marriage and Two Children
Extorted Over 570 Million Won Under the Pretext of Buying a Newlywed Home
Appeals Court Upholds First Trial's 3 Years and 6 Months Prison Sentence

A woman in her 30s who concealed the fact that she was married to approach a man, marry him, and extort about 600 million won was sentenced to prison. This woman, who even had children, used "parents and wedding guests hired as part-time actors" to hold the formal meeting and wedding ceremony in order to deceive the man.

[Photo by Yonhap News]

The 2-3 Criminal Division of the Gwangju High Court (Presiding Judge Park Seong-yoon) announced on the 10th that it dismissed the appeal of Ms. A (37), who was tried for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud) and embezzlement, and was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison in the first trial. Ms. A was indicted on charges of embezzling a total of 574 million won in 38 installments from Mr. B, the victim, under the pretext of funds for purchasing a newlywed house in November 2020. Ms. A is also accused of giving 10 million won out of the 50 million won entrusted by Mr. B to her younger sibling and using the remaining 40 million won for personal purposes.

The victim, Mr. B, first met Ms. A in 2017 at a bar run by an acquaintance. At that time, Ms. A introduced herself as someone who majored in Korean dance and taught children at an academy. She claimed to have inherited a large fortune from her father and owned an apartment in Gwangju as well as a house in Jangheung, Jeollanam-do. However, all of this was false. Ms. A was actually a married woman with children. Her academic background, assets, and occupation were all lies.

Mr. B, unaware of these facts, started dating Ms. A and even held a wedding in 2021. The parents he met during the formal meeting and other wedding guests were fake actors hired by Ms. A, and the wedding guests were part-time workers who came for pay.

Ms. A squandered the hundreds of millions of won she received for preparing the newlywed house, as well as the 40 million won Mr. B gave her to save, on entertainment expenses and other personal uses. During the newlywed life that lasted just over a year, she also received living expenses dozens of times.

The first trial court stated, "The victim suffered great mental anguish, losing not only money but also the person he loved and his trust in her," and sentenced her to 3 years and 6 months in prison.

The appellate court pointed out, "Due to the defendant's fraudulent acts, the victim and his family suffered irreparable mental distress and significant economic damage." It added, "Considering that most of the damages have yet to be recovered, the original sentence is appropriate," and upheld the original ruling.

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