In the first trial, a man in his forties was sentenced to prison for deceiving a fan by promising a job as a staff member on BTS’s set and swindling a large sum of money.
According to the legal community, the 21st Criminal Agreement of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Heo Kyung Moo) sentenced the unnamed convict, who was indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud), to four years in prison on the 22nd.
In July 2021, the convict posted a note on an online marketplace stating, “Looking for someone to buy the BTS staff ticket.”
He then contacted the victim, who followed the post, and lied, “I work as a team leader of an outsourcing production company that produces videos, etc., under a contract with Hybe, BTS’s agency.” He also said, “There is a BTS content shooting in Jeju Island, and if you give me money, I will let you take part as a staff member,” and asked for a deposit.
Starting by receiving 3.45 million won ($2,900) from the victim as the participation fee, the convict defrauded her of 738.59 million won ($622,000) in 153 installments under the pretext of staff participation fees, goods purchasing fees, and concert ticket prices from early July 2021 to January 22nd, 2022. The victim even took out a huge loan to spend this much money.
The convict later returned 131 million won ($110,000) to the victim, but he could not avoid a prison sentence.
The court criticized, “The defendant approached the victim who showed interest in the celebrity’s staff ticket and exploited the victim’s admiration for the celebrity to swindle a large amount of money under the name of the staff participation fee, etc., making the guilt heavy.” The court added, “Even though he has been sentenced to prison several times for similar fraud in the past, he committed the crime again using the same method, raising the critical voices.”
The court also pointed out, “The victim had to bear a large amount of loan debt to prepare the money requested by the defendant and is still suffering from mental pain because she has not been able to resolve it. However, the defendant has not taken any substantial measures to recover the damage.”
Considering that the victim is petitioning for severe punishment of the defendant, the court sentenced the convict to four years in prison.