"Trusting the Elder Who Said 'I Already Paid': 'Fake Guests' Target Wedding Halls for Return Gifts"

Six individuals, including a man in his 70s, have been apprehended by the police for entering wedding halls by pretending to be guests and falsely claiming they had already given wedding gifts in order to receive and pocket return gifts and meal tickets. It has been found that these individuals have a history of committing similar offenses in the past.

According to the police on September 19, the Busan Nambu Police Station sent six people, including the man in his 70s surnamed A, to the prosecutor's office without detention on charges of fraud. They are accused of taking return gifts and meal tickets worth a total of 770,000 won from two wedding halls located in Busanjin-gu and Nam-gu, Busan, in March and July this year.

People in their 70s disguised as wedding guests to collect meal tickets and return gifts were caught by the police. Photo captured from KBS YouTube channel

The crimes took place during the busy hours at the wedding gift reception desks. The suspects approached the reception desks as if they were legitimate guests and said, “I already paid the wedding gift money,” before receiving return gifts or meal tickets. Some of them exchanged their meal tickets for cash return gifts by later returning to the desk and claiming, “I won’t be dining.”

In Busan and certain other regions, there is a custom of giving envelopes with cash to guests who attended the wedding but do not eat at the reception. The suspects exploited this practice, targeting the crowded reception desks where it is difficult to verify whether someone truly paid a wedding gift.

The police investigation began after a report was filed by victims who found A’s behavior suspicious. The police cross-checked faces captured on the wedding hall’s surveillance cameras (CCTV) with people who had previously been convicted of similar crimes, confirming the involvement of the remaining five suspects.

The investigation revealed that the six acted independently, not as a coordinated group. However, most of them had previous convictions for theft or fraud, and some had as many as 20 to 30 prior offenses. It was also discovered that two of the suspects are brothers.

People in their 70s disguised as wedding guests to collect meal tickets and return gifts were caught by the police. Screenshot from KBS YouTube channel

Crimes by so-called “fake guests” exploiting the crowded nature of wedding venues have occurred multiple times in the past as well. In 2018, in Gyeongnam, eleven people were caught by police for posing as guests at wedding halls and collecting return gifts by pretending they had made a contribution. The men wore suits and the women wore dresses, dressing appropriately to blend in as actual guests. They then committed the crime by telling lies such as, “I handed in an envelope earlier but didn’t receive a return gift,” or “There are several people in my party, so please give multiple return gift envelopes.”

There have also been cases where meal tickets, rather than return gifts, were the target. In 2014, a man in his 50s was sentenced to ten months in prison for fraud after pretending to be a guest and obtaining two meal tickets at a wedding held at a hotel in Changwon.

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