Hiding the ‘true truth’, “I am the owner of a massage business”… A man in his 30s was not indicted on charges of fleeing a criminal.

“I played the role of the actual president,” he claimed.
“It is difficult to determine whether the facts are false enough to deceive the investigative agency.”

The manager of a massage parlor, who was accused of obstructing the investigation by intentionally hiding the existence of the actual owner, was not indicted.

On the 12th of last month, the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office cleared Mr. A, a man in his 30s, who was sent on charges of absconding from criminals and violating the Prostitution Punishment Act.

Mr. A was arrested urgently in January 2024 on charges of arranging prostitution at a massage parlor. At the beginning of the investigation, he referred to himself as the boss and denied the existence of accomplices.

However, during the subsequent investigation, he confessed to the existence of Mr. B, the actual boss, and the police charged Mr. A with criminal fugitive, believing that he had intentionally obstructed the investigation to allow Mr. B to escape.

Mr. A denied the charges. Mr. A claimed, “I received advice from Mr. B about running the business, but I took charge of the actual management myself, so I called myself the boss.” He added, “I was just afraid that if I mentioned my accomplices, the crime would be seen as organized and I would be punished more heavily, and I had no intention of letting Mr. B escape.”

The prosecution accepted Mr. A’s claim. It was decided that it would be difficult to view Mr. A as a simple ‘pants boss’. The prosecution explained, “Mr. A actually interviewed and hired employees, managed daily profits, and even took charge of police response in case of crackdowns. If the suspect has actually controlled and managed the business, it is difficult to conclude that calling himself the business owner was false enough to deceive the investigative agency.” The prosecution added, "In a situation where the investigative agency did not conduct any other investigation to confirm the facts other than asking the suspect whether he was an accomplice, it is difficult to say that the suspect actively deceived the investigative agency and helped the criminal escape just because he made a statement that was different from the facts."

Lawyer Choi Yong-hwan of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, “In order to constitute a crime of escape from a criminal, the investigation must be obstructed by an active act of deception. Since this case corresponds to a case where the client passively made a statement to lower the level of punishment, we were able to achieve a good result by explaining the legal principles of exercising the right to defense.”

Reporter Kim Hee-guk kukie@kookje.co.kr

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Hide the ‘true truth’ and say, “I am the owner of a massage business”… Man in his 30s on suspicion of fleeing criminal not indicted (link)