A man in his 20s was sentenced to 20 years in prison for secretly siphoning off 10 billion won's worth of cash assets from the parents' accounts after pretending to date a woman.
The Daegu District Court's Criminal Division 11 (Director General Lee Young-cheol) sentenced Mr. A, who was indicted on charges of fraudulent appropriation of cash and other assets worth 10 billion won from the parents of a peer woman, to 20 years in prison on the 16th.
Co-defendant Mr. B, who was indicted for allegedly harboring some of the cash that Mr. A had siphoned off, was sentenced to 1 year in prison with a 2-year probation.
Mr. A approached a woman in her 20s, Ms. C, from November 2023 to March this year, deceived her into thinking they were dating, and was tried for siphoning off cash assets worth 10 billion won held in cash and in the accounts of Ms. C's wealthy parents.
He converted about 7 billion won of this into gift cards that were difficult to trace, then resold them to a personal gift card dealer to cash out and hide them. Some were reportedly transferred to Mr. B.
The prosecution seized approximately 2.9 billion won in cash, gift cards, luxury watches, handbags, and other property secured during the investigation.
The court stated, 'The amount of damage is significant, and it was not a normal fraud scheme. It not only destabilized the financial foundation of the victims but also personally destroyed and devastated them.'
Previously, during the sentencing hearing held last month, the prosecution sought a 30-year prison sentence for Mr. A.