The academy director deceived parents and extorted billions of won... Sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison

The director of an academy accused of extorting billions of won from parents was sentenced to prison.

On August 23, the Busan District Court Eastern Branch Criminal Division 1 (Chief Judge Lee Dong-gi) sentenced Mr. A, the director of an English academy who was put on trial on fraud charges, to three years and six months in prison.

Last year, Mr. A requested a loan of 4 million won from the parents of the academy he runs, saying, “We need to show the sales of complete textbooks to the franchise headquarters.”

Initially, Mr. A acted as if he was keeping his promise by immediately repaying the borrowed amount, but a few hours later, he deceived Mr. B by requesting a re-deposit due to an account error.

Mr. A’s demands for money continued thereafter. Mr. A complained of difficult circumstances, such as betrayal by a business partner, and persuaded Mr. B that he would repay the loan by opening a negative account with a high limit.

In this way, the total amount paid by Mr. B to Mr. A over 20 days amounts to 2.49 billion won.

The court said, “The defendant deceived the parents for the purpose of using it for internet gambling, etc.,” and concluded, “Considering this, the nature of the crime is low, and considering the defendant’s history of fraud and the fact that he was not forgiven by the victim, there is a high possibility of blame.”

The fact that Mr. A had repaid about 68% of the money he had borrowed was considered advantageous, but Mr. A was sentenced to prison.

“There are frequent cases of people borrowing money under the pretense of pretending to repay even though they have no ability to repay,” said Kim Jin-won, a lawyer at Daeryun Law Firm (Lihan), who served as the legal representative for the victims.

He added, “Postponing the promised repayment date also has financial benefits, so in this case, fraud is also committed.”

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