Gold Prices Rise... Dental Alloy Embezzlement and Fraud of 1.5 Billion Won by Association Employee

[Financial News] An employee of the Credit Cooperative was sentenced to prison for defrauding several billion won by falsely claiming to supply dental alloys at a special price and arbitrarily disposing of the issued alloys. The jewelry store owner who purchased the stolen goods received a suspended sentence.
According to the legal community on the 1st, the Seoul Western District Court's 12th Criminal Division (Chief Judge Choi Jeong-in) sentenced Mr. A, who was indicted on charges of fraud and embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to 4 years and 6 months in prison, and Mr. B, who was indicted on charges of negligent acquisition of stolen goods, to 6 months in prison with a 1-year suspended sentence.
Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of defrauding 545.29 million won by deceiving a dentist in January last year into believing that "10 billion won worth of alloys could be supplied at a special price" and making him pay into the association's alloy trading account.
Additionally, it was acknowledged that from 2023 to last year, he arbitrarily disposed of 17,830g of dental alloy worth 1.53121 billion won issued from the association and used the proceeds for personal purposes such as stock investment.
Jewelry store owner Mr. B purchased 8,600g of dental alloy from Mr. A for 763.41 million won in cash over five occasions between May and August last year. The court found him guilty, noting that he failed to fulfill his basic duty of care, such as verifying the source and disposal authority, despite repeatedly purchasing new alloys in large quantities from someone who was not an association employee.
The court explained the sentencing by stating, "Mr. A's crime is serious as he used the rising gold price trend to disguise transaction conditions and make payments, and used the issued quantities for 'Ponzi schemes' and personal investments."
Regarding Mr. B, the court added, "He acknowledges his wrongdoing and has no serious prior convictions other than fines."
425_sama@fnnews.com Choi Seung-han Reporter