"I just pressed a button and 475 million won came in" A bizarre method of a person in their 20s

[Financial News] A person in their 20s was sentenced to prison for manipulating the automatic recharge function of a delivery agency program to create fake franchises and embezzle billions of won from the company.
According to the legal community on the 8th, the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Division 6 (Presiding Judge Hong Daseon) sentenced Mr. A (26), who was indicted on charges of computer fraud, to 8 months in prison.
Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of opening fake franchises in the delivery agency program and embezzling the program company's funds using the automatic recharge function.
In January 2022, Mr. A signed a delivery agency program contract with Company B and operated a delivery agency in the Seodaemun-gu area. The program was designed to automatically recharge when the franchise's recharge funds were depleted, and Mr. A had the authority to create new franchise accounts or set withdrawal accounts.
From late August 2022, for about a month, Mr. A falsely registered non-existent franchises as chicken shops and snack bars, designating the withdrawal account as his own account. Every time an automatic recharge occurred, the victim company's funds flowed through the fake franchises into his account, embezzling a total of 475.26 million won.
The victim company discovered during the inspection of recharge transaction records that fake franchises were registered in the program and reported it to the investigative agency.
During the investigation, Mr. A admitted to the crime and reportedly returned some of the money.
The court stated in its ruling, "The defendant used the authority given as a contractor to create fake franchises and embezzle company funds through the automatic recharge function," adding, "Considering the large amount of embezzled funds and the fact that the compensation for the damage has not been sufficiently made and the whereabouts are currently unknown, the responsibility is heavy."
However, the court considered "the fact that the crime was admitted during the investigation, a debt repayment agreement was written, and there is no criminal record exceeding a fine," as reasons for sentencing.


425_sama@fnnews.com Choi Seunghan Reporter