"We'll Tell You the Winning Lottery Numbers"... Gang Leader Who Swindled 6.6 Billion Won Gets 7 Years in Prison
The numbers actually provided were selected at random
The head of an organization that swindled victims out of about 6.6 billion won by claiming it could predict winning lottery numbers using an analysis system has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
On Nov. 1, Judge Kim Jihoo of the Incheon District Court's Criminal Division 2, sitting as a single-judge panel, announced that it had sentenced the 33-year-old defendant, identified as A, to seven years in prison on charges including fraud and organizing a criminal group.
A was accused of setting up an office in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, between April 2021 and August 2023 and swindling members he recruited out of a total of 6.624 billion won in about 14,000 transactions. After acquiring two lottery-number prediction websites, he formed an organization that included a representative, an office manager, and first- and second-tier telemarketers (TMs). The group not only established a system to recruit members but also used membership lists purchased from illegal businesses in the scheme.
A instructed TM employees to deceive victims after the winning numbers were announced each Saturday, claiming they had correctly predicted second- or third-prize numbers even though no one had actually won. He also encouraged them to sign up for higher-tier memberships requiring payments of 1.1 million to 2.2 million won or more, promising to extend their service period if they did not win. However, the numbers victims actually received were found to have been selected at random, not generated through any specific analysis.
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Judge Kim ruled, "The defendant's crimes are extremely serious, and his culpability is great given the large scale of the losses caused by the organized fraud." The judge added, "However, I took into account that the defendant is remorseful and that some victims who have been reimbursed for their losses do not want him punished."
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