Thai 'Lungker Company' team leader sentenced to 14 years in prison... Court says, "Harsher sentence reflects social demand"

[Financial News] Members of the Southeast Asia–based crime syndicate "Lungker Company," who targeted Koreans with romance scams, no-show scams and other fraud schemes, have been sentenced to prison terms.
On the 11th, the 14th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court, presided over by Judge Lee Jeong-hee, sentenced a 32-year-old team leader–level member, identified only by the surname Ahn, to 14 years in prison and ordered him to forfeit 33 million won. He was convicted of joining and participating in a criminal organization, violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes related to telecommunication fraud refunds, and obstruction of business, among other charges.
On the same day, the 12th Criminal Division, presided over by Judge Kim Jung-gon, sentenced another team leader–level member, a 30-year-old identified only by the surname Cho, to 12 years in prison and ordered the forfeiture of 6.6 million won.
The 14th Criminal Division stated, "The methods were sophisticated and highly organized, and the crimes targeted an unspecified large number of victims, resulting in an enormous scope of damage. Post-crime restitution is also difficult, and the harm to society is extremely serious," adding, "Because the crime syndicate was based in Thailand and Cambodia, the structure of the operation was concealed, which significantly hindered investigators from uncovering the full picture, and the flow of criminal proceeds was also hard to trace. The scale of the operation and the extent of the damage are very large."
Regarding Ahn, who led a romance scam operation that approached male victims on social networking services (SNS) while pretending to be women, the court noted, "As a team leader, he played a central role by managing and controlling the performance of team members," and continued, "He participated in the crimes for more than seven months, during which there were roughly 700 victims and total losses of about 15 billion won. Acting in concert with other members, he also committed aggravated assault against a victim who tried to leave the organization."
The 12th Criminal Division likewise criticized the defendants for inflicting massive harm on ordinary citizens, stating, "They voluntarily went to Thailand, a country where they had no personal ties, and joined a criminal organization, making an essential and central contribution to the completion of the crimes," and explaining, "From the outset, they clearly understood that the work they were doing was illegal, yet they still took part in the offenses, so there is a strong need for stern punishment."
Nine other members who were tried alongside them received prison sentences ranging from 6 to 11 years and forfeiture orders between 9 million and 12 million won.
After reading out the sentencing order, the 14th Criminal Division remarked, "Some may view the sentence as too harsh, while others may see it as too lenient," but added, "In light of the strong social demand and prevailing sentiment that voice phishing (vishing) crimes must be severely punished, the sentences handed down are higher than in the past."
The defendants joined Lungker Company, a crime syndicate that originated in Cambodia and later moved its base of operations to Thailand, in either 2024 or last year. They worked in units such as the "romance scam team," the "lottery compensation cryptocurrency scam team," and the "restaurant no-show team" that impersonated military units or ordinary customers. They are accused of defrauding as few as 65 victims of more than 1 billion won and as many as about 700 victims of roughly 15 billion won.
Ahn and several other defendants were also indicted for assaulting members who tried to leave the organization and threatening their families to force repayment of money. In one case, when a member failed to repay about 25 million won, they contacted his parents and threatened, "You must repay the money we spent to get your son out of a Chinese organization in Cambodia. If you do not pay, we will cut off his fingers, sell him to China, and you will never see him again," and extorted 9 million won. Afterward, when the parents reported that their son was being held captive in Thailand, diplomatic authorities requested cooperation from local police, leading to the arrests.
Prosecutors had earlier sought prison terms of up to 40 years for the defendants, and during the trial most of them admitted the majority of the charges.
psh@fnnews.com Reporter Park Sung-hyun Reporter