"I Thought It Was Love..." The Truth Behind the Boyfriend Who Cheated His Lover Out of 100 Million Won [Scammers]

[Financial News] "The National Tax Service has just shown up at the company. I need 40 million won right away, but it's hard to get the money. If we can just solve this, I'll definitely pay you back by the end of January next year. Please help me."In October 2018, the fact that the person she loved was in a crisis she could not ignore was A's biggest concern. B, her boyfriend, 44, described the situation in urgent and specific terms, leaving A with no reason to doubt him. She simply believed it was only natural to help the person she trusted and relied on through a difficult moment.
But the reality behind that desperation was a performance. The alleged tax audit by the National Tax Service was a complete fabrication, used only as a device to cover B's personal debts and living expenses. B planned to use A's money to roll over his debts and cover his daily costs. Deviously, the scheme began from the moment the two became a couple.
The fraud did not stop there. He kept opening A's wallet with all kinds of excuses, including "tax payments," "material costs," and "employee salaries." By June 2019, he had taken a total of 99.72 million won in 22 separate transactions. With no ability or intention to repay the money properly, B treated his lover's trust as nothing more than a tool for extortion.
What came next was even more outrageous. The two broke up in April 2019, and once A began demanding repayment, B turned into a vicious extortionist. Whenever they spoke, he responded not with apologies or explanations, but with brazen defiance. He even threatened her by mentioning her family, saying, "If you call my mother, I won't give you even what I was going to give you," and sent messages filled with profanity to heighten her anxiety.
According to legal sources on the 5th, Seo Young-hyo, presiding judge of the Criminal Division 11 Single-Judge Panel of the Seoul Northern District Court, sentenced B to two years in prison, suspended for three years, on the 18th of last month for fraud and violations of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc.
B was brought to trial on charges of taking 99.72 million won in 22 separate transactions from October 2018 to June 2019. He was also accused of sending messages that could cause anxiety on 35 occasions from August to October 2019.
The court explained the sentence by saying, "The amount stolen was large, and the defendant has multiple prior convictions for similar offenses." It added, "However, we considered that the defendant admitted to all of the crimes, showed remorse, and has reached an amicable settlement by paying 70 million won in damages so far."
jyseo@fnnews.com Seo Ji-yoon Reporter