'18% Annual Interest' Bait Leads to 400 Million Won Fraud... Man in His 60s Sentenced for Deceiving University Junior

The Financial News – A man in his 60s who deceived his university junior and stole hundreds of millions of won has been sentenced to prison.
According to the legal community on the 21st, the Seoul Northern District Court Criminal Division 5 (Presiding Judge Kwon So-young) sentenced Mr. A (63), who was indicted on charges of fraud, to two years and six months in prison on the 25th of last month. The request for a compensation order by the applicant was dismissed.
Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of defrauding his university junior, Mr. B, of 450 million won between December 2014 and February 2015.
In December 2014, Mr. A falsely told Mr. B, "I am carrying out subcontracting work. If you lend me 200 million won, I will pay you a monthly interest rate of 1.5 bun (annual rate of 18%) and repay the principal in a lump sum at 150% after six months." Believing this, Mr. B transferred 230 million won.
In February of the following year, Mr. A further claimed, "I need an additional 200 million won to proceed with the subcontracting work and to repay the existing loan." Mr. B then transferred an additional 220 million won in three installments.
According to the prosecution's investigation, Mr. A was already operating his business in a state of capital impairment exceeding 100 million won. Both operating profit and net profit for the period were in the red by more than 100 million won, indicating he had neither the intent nor the ability to repay Mr. B.
It was also reported that in September 2021, Mr. A was sentenced to seven months in prison by the Seoul Northern District Court for fraud, indicating a prior criminal record.
The court stated, "The amount defrauded is 450 million won, which is a serious offense. Despite the significant time that has passed since the crime, the damage has not been recovered, and there appears to have been no effort to make restitution."
jyseo@fnnews.com Seo Ji-yoon Reporter