Man gets 1.5 years for phone repair scams, stalking ex-girlfriends

A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison for a string of crimes, including defrauding pedestrians and stalking his former girlfriends. The court also ordered him to complete 40 hours of a stalking treatment program.

The man targeted young adults, including soldiers and university students, in areas like university districts and bus terminals in Chuncheon, Hongcheon, and Seoul between September of last year and February of this year. His modus operandi involved intentionally bumping into pedestrians while holding a pre-broken mobile phone. He would then drop the phone, falsely claim the victim broke it, and demand repair money. He often intimidated victims by threatening to report them to the police or involve their parents, coercing them into paying.

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The nature and methods of the crimes, along with the significant amount defrauded (over 68 million won), are serious.

Through this scheme, he obtained approximately 49.49 million won from 12 victims. He also attempted to extort more money but failed in those attempts. In addition to defrauding strangers, the man targeted his ex-girlfriends, borrowing money under the guise of vehicle repair costs and failing to repay it. He swindled them out of about 18.8 million won over 13 instances, using the funds for gambling.

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The defendant's post-crime behavior, including lying about his whereabouts to investigators, is also unfavorable.

His predatory behavior extended to stalking. Despite requests from an ex-girlfriend to cease contact, he messaged her 189 times in a week and visited her home after sending 1 won via bank transfer 53 times over four days. He even violated emergency protection orders, including a 100-meter exclusion zone and communication restrictions, by sending multiple messages and assaulting the victim just seven hours after receiving the order.

The court cited the nature and methods of the crimes, along with the significant amount defrauded (over 68 million won), as reasons for the severe sentence. It noted that while some victims received partial restitution, a substantial amount of over 55 million won remains unrecovered, and not all victims have agreed to a settlement. The court also pointed to the defendant's lack of cooperation with investigators and his prior conviction for fraud.

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He has a prior record of fines for fraud.