‘Voice phishing collection plan’ A woman in her 20s was found not guilty in the first trial and then the appeal… Why?

Mr. A, in his 20s, was indicted on charges of colluding with a voice phishing organization to collect and deliver cash.
The prosecution appealed the first trial’s ‘not guilty’ decision, but… 2nd trial court: “There was no intentional fraud”

A woman in her 20s who was indicted on charges of collecting and delivering cash from voice phishing victims was found not guilty in the first trial and also in the appeals court.

On the 15th, the Incheon District Court's 2-1st Criminal Division dismissed the prosecutor's appeal and upheld the first trial verdict of not guilty at the appellate trial of Mr.

Mr. A was put on trial in 2022 on charges of serving as a cash collector for a voice phishing organization and receiving and delivering 120 million won from six victims.

He was also accused of printing false official documents in the name of the Financial Services Commission and distributing them to some of the victims.

During the trial, Mr. A claimed that there was no intention to commit fraud. It is said that a voice phishing gang member posing as an employee of an auction company saw Mr. A's resume posted on a job search site and offered him a job first. He also emphasized that the hiring process, including submitting resumes and writing employment contracts, was no different from other companies, so there could be no doubts.

In addition, Mr. A paid the taxi fare with his card while moving to collect the cash and revealed his real name to the victims, which proves that Mr. A did not recognize his actions as a crime.

The first trial court found Mr. A not guilty in October last year and dismissed all related claims for compensation. At the time, the court explained, “The defendant was given the main task of ‘delivering auction-related documents and payments’ by company officials,” and added, “There is ample room for misunderstanding that this is the work handled by an actual auction company.”

He added, “Also, the defendant did not confirm each other’s identities when he met with the victims, and he was never instructed by company officials to tell false information,” adding, “It is highly likely that the defendant was also used as a tool to carry out voice phishing crimes.”

The prosecution appealed, but the second trial court's decision was the same as the original trial. The appellate court said, “It is possible that the defendant perceived that he was simply affiliated with an auction company and performing outside work.”

In addition, the reason for the acquittal was stated, saying, “The daily allowance received by Mr. A does not appear to be a large enough amount to warrant criminal punishment for participating in the voice phishing crime, and the printing of false official documents in the name of the Financial Services Commission is also judged to have been carried out under the impression that it was a simple company order.”

Lawyer Jang Ho-cheol of Daeryun Law Firm (Lihan), who represented Mr. A, explained, “In Mr. A’s case, he had not experienced a proper social life after graduating from high school,” adding, “Therefore, he was completely unaware that he was involved in a specific crime called voice phishing, and it appears that the court also took this into consideration and decided that it was not intentional.”

[View full article] - ‘Voice phishing collection plan’ A woman in her 20s was found not guilty in the first trial and then the appeal… Why?(Shortcut)