50s Voice Phishing Courier with 20 Years of Police Service Sentenced to Prison

Sentenced to 1 Year and 2 Months

A man in his 50s who worked as a police officer for over 20 years was sentenced to prison for participating in a fraud crime as a voice phishing intermediary.

Judge Lee Chang-won of the Criminal Division 11 at the Seoul Northern District Court recently sentenced Woo (54) to 1 year and 2 months in prison on charges of fraud.

Woo was indicted for conspiring with voice phishing organization members last October to receive criminal proceeds via transfers, withdraw them by check, and exchange them for cash as an intermediary.

The victim was deceived by the phishing organization's false claim that their bank account was involved in illegal gambling activities and was at risk, leading them to withdraw checks worth 546 million KRW and hand them over to phishing member A.

Member A delivered these checks to collector B in front of a subway station exit in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and B converted the checks into cash and transferred 250 million KRW to Woo’s bank account.

Woo is also accused of participating in the crime by withdrawing 25 checks worth 10 million KRW each to deliver to another voice phishing member.

Woo’s defense attorney argued in court that Woo did not conspire with the voice phishing members and believed his actions were merely simple money laundering, thus lacking intent to commit fraud.

However, the judge considered Woo’s over 20 years of police service and his prior criminal punishment in 2015 for aiding another’s voice phishing crime, concluding it is reasonable to see that Woo was aware his actions were part of a fraud scheme.

The judge also viewed Woo’s activation of a new phone during the operation to contact organization members and the excessive 500,000 KRW fee he received for what should have been a simple currency exchange as evidence of criminal intent.

However, the fact that the cash Woo withdrew was returned to the victim and that Woo did not gain any substantial benefit from the crime were considered favorable mitigating factors.

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