Man in His 20s Charged with Receiving Stolen Goods After Buying a Used Figure Cleared Without Referral

A man who purchased a figure on a secondhand trading platform and recommended the seller to acquaintances was booked on charges of receiving and brokering stolen goods, but received a decision of non-referral.

According to the legal community on the 14th, the Gyeonggi Paju Police Station decided in May not to refer A, a man in his 20s accused of receiving and brokering stolen goods.

A was accused of purchasing figures stolen by a man named B through a secondhand trading platform last year and brokering their sale to others.

A denied the charges, saying he had no idea the figures were stolen goods. He said he had come to know B in an open chat room related to figures, and that at the time of the sale, B told him, "I have to urgently dispose of my own figures because my warehouse lease is expiring," which A took at face value.

Regarding the brokering charge, he added that he had not participated in any illegal act beyond posting promotional messages during the transaction. He also emphasized that immediately after becoming aware of the crime, he cooperated with the victimized company to help arrest B in the act and returned all commissions and sales proceeds in full.

The police decided not to refer A. They judged it difficult to find intent, considering that it is not uncommon for collectors to rent warehouses to store figures, and that B had built trust by personally taking A to the warehouse and showing him the interior.

Attorney Kim Eun-young of the law firm Daeryun, who represented A, explained, "As secondhand trading becomes commonplace, there is a growing number of cases in which people unknowingly become involved in stolen-goods transactions and suffer distress," adding, "Since a stolen-goods crime is established only when 'willful negligence'—trading while aware of the crime—is proven, the outcome hinges on how specifically and logically one can account for the circumstances at the time of the transaction."

He continued, "By actively proving the objective circumstances under which the client had no choice but to trust the seller, and the fact that he cooperated with investigative authorities after becoming aware of the crime, we were able to establish his innocence."

Reporter Jung Cheol-wook

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Man in His 20s Charged with Receiving Stolen Goods After Buying a Used Figure Cleared Without Referral (Go to link)