“Change to high interest rates”... A man in his 30s who handed over his bank account for a ‘work loan’ was found not guilty.

Suspicion of renting account numbers, public certificates, etc.
The court said, “We do not recognize the fact of the crime.”

An office worker who gave his bank account number and public certificate password to a voice phishing group was found not guilty.

On the 16th of last month, the Eastern Branch of the Busan District Court found Mr. A, a man in his 30s, not guilty after being sent to trial on charges of violating the Electronic Financial Transactions Act.

Mr. A was accused of renting his access medium to a voice phishing organization member in November 2023. According to the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, access media refers to means or information that can provide transaction instructions in electronic financial transactions, such as credit card public certificates and passwords.

Mr. A denied the charges. In the process of inquiring about a loan, a person in charge whose name was unknown said, “To increase the loan limit, you need to increase the amount of cash held,” and explained that the process of buying and selling stocks was necessary to do this, so he handed over the password for the public certificate.

He said, “We only promised to pay a fee equivalent to 5% of the principal amount when the loan was executed, but we did not provide passwords or anything else in return for the loan.”

The court found him not guilty. The point is that the access medium in this case at issue was not provided in return for providing a loan opportunity, but was merely used as a means to realize the promised loan.

The court also added, “There is ample room for the defendant to believe that additional actions in the above process were necessary in a situation where the loan company could not obtain a loan, and he later voluntarily visited the police to understand the situation and made efforts to obtain proof.”

Attorney Nakhyeong Kim of Daeryun Law Firm, who served as Mr. A's legal representative, said, "For the crime of renting access media to be established, the suspect must receive or have the perception of economic benefits commensurate with the rental," and added, "Through Mr. A's KakaoTalk conversation, we were able to obtain acquittal by emphasizing that Mr. A was not aware of the crime, such as continuously checking for illegality during the loan execution process."

Digital Content Team

[View full article]
“Switch to high interest rates”... Man in his 30s found not guilty of handing over bank account for ‘work loan’ (Shortcut)