50-year-old not guilty in connection with phone fraud while trying to borrow money for mother's medical expenses

A man who was involved in a ‘currency exchange phone financial fraud (voice phishing)’ crime while looking for a loan to cover his mother’s medical expenses was acquitted.

According to the legal community on the 26th, the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office decided not to indict Mr. A, a man in his 50s who was sent on charges of telecommunications financial fraud on the 13th of last month.

Mr. A was accused of converting the 15 million won deposited into his account by Mr. B, who was deceived by an unidentified member of a telephone financial fraud organization last January, into 6,000 dollars and 630,000 yen and delivering it to the organization member. Mr. B was deceived by a member of a telephone fraud organization who said, “You must deposit a deposit to receive a loan,” and deposited money into Mr. A’s account.

Mr. A denied the charges. He claimed, “I was simply deceived by the loan officer who offered currency exchange and transfer, saying, ‘If you want to issue a loan with company support funds, you need track records.’” He also explained, “There were some questionable parts during the loan review process, such as asking me to take a photo and send it, but I had no idea it was a phone financial scam because I urgently needed my mother’s medical expenses.”

Considering that Mr. A only exchanged money twice over two days and immediately complained to the loan manager when his account was suspended, the prosecution concluded that he simply trusted and followed the loan manager's instructions and did not intentionally participate in the crime of telephone financial fraud.

Attorney Kim Sang-gu of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, “Mr. A immediately went to the police for consultation after his account was suspended, and was able to get the charges acquitted by actively explaining that he did his best to restore the situation to its original state, including paying a settlement to Mr. B despite difficult economic conditions.”

Reporter Jeong Cheol-wook

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Man in his 50s acquitted of involvement in phone fraud while trying to borrow money for mother's medical expenses