(Herald DB)
(Herald DB)

A 43-year-old man and his 54-year-old common-law wife have been sentenced to prison for swindling about 81 million won ($58,382) from a woman after decieving her into believing she was engaged to the man.

The Gwangju District Court recently handed a two-year jail term to the male defendant and one year to his female accomplice, for the romance scam carried out from May of 2018 to September of 2019.

The victim, a divorcee with a child, met the man who said he was "a son of a wealthy family who runs wedding halls in Seoul and Gwangju." He introduced his common-law wife as his sister.

The two defendants asked the victim for money under various pretenses, including money for the home where she and the man would live after marriage, payment for a loan, and borrowing her credit cards.

They also were found to have swindled some 3.6 million won from the victim's acquaintances, as investments for a business they said they will start and money they said was needed for a shamanistic ceremony dedicated to the business' success.

The supposed business did not exist, and it was revealed that the profits from the scam were used for the couple's personal use.

"(The male defendant) had been convicted and served prison term for the same crime (fraud), and he has not paid back for the damages he inflicted. ... (The female victim's) involvement in the crime is serious, since she pretended to be his sister and shared the profits," the court said in its ruling.


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com