Cambodian criminal group 'no-show scam' member sentenced to prison in court

Those who were active in a criminal organization in Cambodia and committed 'no-show fraud' against small business owners were sentenced to prison by the court.

According to the legal community on the 18th, Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Eastern District Court (Chief Judge Kwon Min-jeong) sentenced A (38), a man indicted on charges of membership in a criminal group, criminal group activity, and fraud, to six years in prison on the 11th and ordered him to collect 12 million won.

Mr. A, a criminal group located in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, impersonated a military unit or hospital and carried out a no-show scam against small business owners by deceiving them by saying, "If you order and supply goods from a specific company on your behalf, you will be paid later."

It was confirmed that there were a total of 62 victims of this kind of behavior, and the total amount of damage was approximately 2.491 billion won.

The criminal group committed crimes systematically by dividing into team leader-level members who prepared scenarios, primary counselors who deceived victims by asking them to purchase items on their behalf, and secondary counselors who deceived victims by saying they would sell items to them.

Mr. A was introduced to a criminal group in February of last year, left for Vietnam, worked at a voice phishing office impersonating a prosecutor, and then moved to Sihanoukville in the same month to work as the primary counselor for a no-show fraud group.

The court pointed out, "Voice phishing crime is an organized and intelligent crime that produces an unspecified number of victims. It causes great social harm and has structural characteristics that make it difficult to recover from the damage, so it is necessary to punish it strongly."

He then stated the reason for the sentencing, saying, "Even though the number of victims reached 62 and the total amount of damage exceeded 2.4 billion won, the defendant was unable to recover from the damage at all and was not forgiven by the victims."

B (33), a woman who worked with Mr. A, was also sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of 30 million won on charges of membership in a criminal group and activity in a criminal group at the Eastern District Court on the 12th.

It was found that Mr. B committed fraud by serving as a secondary counselor for this organization from January to May of last year.