Crime-Reporting YouTuber Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Multi-Billion Won Used Car Loan Fraud

570,000 Subscribers, Head of Used Car Dealership
"Give me the money or I’ll upload the video"—Extortion and Intimidation Involved

A crime-reporting YouTuber with 570,000 subscribers has been sentenced to prison for allegedly committing a multi-billion won fraud using used cars.

According to a report by Yonhap News on the 23rd, the 34th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Han Sungjin) recently sentenced Mr. A to seven years in prison on charges including fraud, extortion, and intimidation under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Mr. A, who is the head of a used car dealership and operates a YouTube channel with around 570,000 subscribers mainly posting videos reporting on social crimes, was put on trial for fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. He allegedly disguised accident vehicles with no financial value as normal cars and used them as collateral to obtain a total of approximately 3.06 billion won in credit loans between April and December 2023. These vehicles had been involved in incidents not covered by insurance, such as drunk driving, so the owners did not report the accidents to insurance companies. As a result, accident histories did not appear on vehicle history inquiry systems.

Capitalizing on this, Mr. A orchestrated a scheme in which acquaintances pretended to purchase regular used cars, allowing him to secure ‘used car installment credit loans’ under their names. He is also accused of fraudulently obtaining a total of 1.63 billion won in August 2023 by claiming he would buy and resell high-priced imported cars to generate profit. Investigators found that Mr. A diverted these funds for personal debt repayment and business expenses.

In addition, Mr. A faces charges of extorting a total of 620 million won from victim B by threatening, “If you do not pay, I’ll upload a video about you.” He is also accused of threatening an investor in his company by saying, “I will upload a video about your criminal record” to avoid returning their investment. From January 2019 to September 2023, Mr. A is charged with running an unregistered car rental business, illegally lending vehicles for high fees to people who, due to poor credit, could neither borrow nor purchase new cars themselves, in violation of the Passenger Transport Service Act.

The court found Mr. A guilty of all charges except for some related to the unregistered car rental business. The court stated, “The defendant exploited loopholes in the used car installment credit loan process and structure to fraudulently obtain loan funds. The total financial damages from the fraud amount to 4.69 billion won, and the severity of the crime is grave.” Regarding the sentencing, the court added, “However, the fact that the defendant confessed to and repented for part of the offenses and partially compensated victims was taken into consideration as factors in his favor.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.