"I thought they were regulars"... The amount embezzled through card cancellation fraud over 6 years is...

[Financial News]  A distributor who deceived a regular wholesaler and embezzled hundreds of millions of won in seafood payments by using long-term transaction trust as a weapon has been sentenced to prison.
Jeonju District Court Criminal Division 11 (Chief Judge Kim Sang-gon) announced on the 2nd that it sentenced a 70-year-old distributor, Mr. A, to 4 years and 6 months in prison for fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of embezzling a total of 840 million won by using the card terminal of a live fish wholesaler, Mr. B, in Jeonbuk from 2014 to 2020 to settle transaction payments and then immediately canceling them.
The crime began from a long-term transaction relationship. Mr. A, who had been trading with Mr. B since 2008, initially paid for live fish in cash diligently, but as credit and unpaid amounts accumulated, he proposed, "If you lend me the card terminal, I will repay it through retail transactions."
However, Mr. A pretended to settle with the terminal and immediately processed cancellations, handing over only statements as if normal transactions had occurred. He cleverly exploited the fact that Mr. B, based on trust, did not check the approval and cancellation details. This false settlement and cancellation were repeated 526 times over 6 years.
The court stated, "The defendant squandered most of the embezzled large sum on gambling, and considering the period and method of the crime, as well as the relationship with the victim, the nature of the crime is very poor," adding, "The victim suffered immense economic and mental pain, but no recovery was made, and no forgiveness was received."


jjw@fnnews.com Jung Ji-woo Reporter