500 million won stolen through ‘mutual aid subscription loan’ electronic product rental fraud...Jongbeom received ‘suspended sentence’

Conspiracy to commit ‘durable goods’ crime after recruiting people with bad credit through internet advertisements
After signing up for Mutual Aid, immediately dispose of the free gifts provided and ‘cash’ them.

Among the criminal gang members who committed a ‘home appliance rental fraud’ worth 1.3 billion won by using people with poor credit who were unable to get loans from banks, a ruling was made to sentence the main offender to prison and the accessory offender to probation.
 

On July 15, the Cheonan Branch Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court (Presiding Judge Jeon Gyeong-ho) sentenced Mr. A (41 years old), who was arrested and indicted on charges of fraud (fraud) on the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to two years in prison with three years of probation, and sentenced the other defendants, who were main criminals in this case, to three years in prison and two years and six months in prison, respectively.

It is known that they acquired a total of 1.3 billion won in profits by using the so-called electronic product 'durable system' (a new Internet word meaning 'saving myself'), which is a variant loan in which expensive products such as electronic products provided through a rental contract while subscribing to a specific product of a mutual aid company are immediately resold to a third party and the necessary funds are paid.

Among them, Mr. A was accused of suggesting the crime of mutual aid ‘durable relief’ to loan seekers who contacted him after seeing a loan advertisement starting in April 2023, introducing products from the victim company, and making profits by disposing of expensive products provided to loan seekers after signing up for the mutual aid product.

It was found that most of the loan seekers were poor credit and had financial problems, so even if they signed up for mutual aid products, they did not have the intention or ability to pay mutual aid and home appliance installments normally.

In particular, Mr. A was indicted on charges of conspiring with other defendants, who were acquaintances, to recruit applicants for 'durable loan' loans through Internet cafes, mainly in his area, and then committing the above crimes 165 times and embezzling items worth 500 million won.

In this criminal trial, Mr. A's lawyer emphasized that the defendant was not the principal offender in this case and insisted that the defendant be taken into consideration by revealing that the market value of the property in this case was lower than the amount of misappropriation stated in the indictment.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Cheonan Branch of the Daejeon District Court, which heard this case, said, “The so-called ‘durable goods’ crime committed by the defendants by systematically dividing their roles not only causes enormous financial damage to the victim company, which is a direct victim, but also has great social and economic harm in that it ultimately worsens the economic situation of many borrowers who are in a difficult situation where even small loans are difficult.” He also said, “The accomplices made profits from the sale of home appliances for each role. “Due to the nature of the ‘durables’ crime, the actual profits each defendant gained from the crime in this case do not amount to the amount of misappropriation recorded in each crime.”

The court then stated as the reason for sentencing Mr. A, “The fact that the victim company does not want to punish Mr. A as some of the damages have been repaid and reached an agreement, and the fact that he has generally acknowledged the crime and shown reflection from the beginning of the investigation is an advantageous situation.”

Attorney Lim Hye-jin of Daeryun Law Firm (Lihan), who represented Mr. A in this case, said, “As the nature of fraud crimes becomes more diverse, there is a growing demand for stronger punishment for organized fraud. It is not uncommon to see severe punishment for new types of fraud, etc.” He added, “Fortunately, in this case, we were able to avoid court detention by emphasizing that he was an accessory rather than the principal offender and by revealing that the actual proceeds of the crime were not large.” said.

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