"Left a Note in the Bathroom"... Former Instructor Sentenced to 3 Years for Selling TOEIC Answers

Suspected of Obstruction of Business and Other Charges
Crime Committed to Raise Gambling Funds

A man in his 20s who received 80 million won by providing TOEIC answers to raise gambling funds was sentenced to three years in prison.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 25th, Judge Kim Ye-young of the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 9 sentenced former TOEIC instructor Hong Mo (27) to three years in prison and ordered the confiscation of 76.65 million won on charges including obstruction of business.

Hong was indicted for secretly providing TOEIC answers to examinees who requested them 23 times from July 2021 to October 2022.

He hid a mobile phone around the restroom toilet before the exam started, wrote down the answers, then took photos of the answers in the restroom during the exam and sent them to clients via Telegram. The clients also checked Hong’s messages on the phone hidden in the restroom.

Additionally, Hong used a method where he wrote answer notes, hid them in a prearranged restroom, and the clients retrieved them. Eighteen examinees who requested cheating from Hong were each fined between 8 million and 10 million won.

Investigations revealed that Hong earned gambling funds through cheating. He collected a total of 80 million won by charging clients 1.5 million to 5 million won per instance and also borrowed gambling money by exploiting the cheating as leverage.

Judge Kim stated, "Hong committed the crime repeatedly over a considerable period and meticulously planned the methods in advance, showing a very malicious modus operandi. The motive was to obtain gambling funds, which is highly condemnable," explaining the sentencing rationale.

Regarding the clients, the judge pointed out, "They committed cheating to obtain high scores for employment and job changes through dishonest means, damaging the fairness and trust of the exam and causing frustration among honest test-takers."

The prosecution, which had sought a five-year prison sentence, appealed the first trial’s verdict as excessively lenient. Hong also appealed the first trial’s sentence.

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