"There Was a Stone in the Food"... Group Extorted 20 Million Won from 67 Restaurants with Lies [Video]

[Financial News] A group that extorted money from restaurant owners by claiming that stones found in their food had injured their teeth has been referred to prosecutors.
On the 15th, the Chungbuk Provincial Police Agency's Metropolitan Criminal Investigation Unit said it had arrested and referred to prosecutors a man in his 30s, identified as A, on extortion charges. A allegedly extorted 20 million won from 67 restaurant owners in the Chungcheong region and Gyeonggi Province between February and June. Two alleged accomplices were also referred to prosecutors without detention.
The suspects allegedly bit stones they had prepared in advance to injure their gums, then made it appear as though the stones had come from the food. They obtained treatment costs and settlement money from the owners. Over the four-month period, the amounts extorted ranged from as little as 30,000 won to as much as 1.7 million won. Most of the money was reportedly spent on entertainment expenses, including alcohol.
Investigators found that A had plotted the scheme with the others, who were connected to him through regional senior-junior relationships, after previously receiving treatment costs when a stone in food broke one of his teeth at a restaurant. The suspects also divided their roles: when A pretended to be injured, the others showed their tattoos to the owners, threatened them, and demanded treatment costs.
One victimized restaurant owner told KBS about the incident, "I sent 920,000 won. I did it because I was afraid they would threaten me because they had so many tattoos. I was scared."
The group mainly targeted small restaurants during periods with few customers, after the lunch rush.
A police official said, "They went around places like hangover soup restaurants, which are mostly run by older people. Since the scheme worked, they went beyond Cheongju to Gyeonggi Province, South Chungcheong Province, and Daejeon Metropolitan City."
Police said they plan to respond forcefully to crimes involving extortion and fraud targeting small business owners.

[email protected] Ahn Ga-eul Reporter