The information you provided to get a loan ended up in the hands of a fraudulent organization... A man in his 20s accused of being an accomplice was acquitted.

A soldier in his 20s who was accused of being an accomplice in a telephone financial fraud (voice phishing) organization was acquitted of charges by the prosecution after handing over his account number and other information to someone impersonating a counselor while trying to obtain a loan.

According to the legal community on the 29th, the Daejeon District Prosecutor's Office's Seosan Branch cleared Mr. A, a man in his 20s, who was sent on charges of violating the Electronic Financial Transactions Act and aiding and abetting fraud on the 19th of last month.

Mr. A was accused of providing his account information and ID card to a telephone financial fraud organization to use as a money laundering channel. He was also suspected of finding the amount of fraud damage that had been transferred to his account and delivering it to a telephone financial fraud organization.

However, Mr. A denied the charges. In March of last year, while talking to a counselor he met after seeing an online loan advertisement, he was deceived into saying, “You can only get a loan if you create transaction details,” and was implicated in a crime after providing his account number, password, and identification card.

Mr. A also claimed that while looking for an additional loan, he received an offer from another person impersonating a counselor, saying, "Your account is being used for fraud. If you find the money deposited in the account and deliver it to us, we will report it to the Financial Supervisory Service and provide relief." He followed suit and was also charged with aiding and abetting fraud.

Mr. A claimed, "I never expected that my account would be used for fraud. At the time, I was in a situation where it was difficult to make sound decisions because I was in deep debt after being defrauded of hundreds of millions of won in investments." He explained, “I asked the so-called counselors several times about the progress of the loan, and if I had had the perception that it was a crime, I would not have done something like this.”

The prosecution determined that both charges against Mr. A were not valid. According to the Supreme Court precedent, renting ‘access media’ such as electronic information contained in the magnetic strip of a deposit account or an electronic card can be considered a violation of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, but the information provided by Mr. A does not fall under this.

Regarding the charge of aiding and abetting fraud, it was deemed that there was no intention to facilitate the crime of telephone financial fraud, considering that Mr. A did not suspect that the loan process was abnormal or could be involved in a crime while talking to people impersonating counselors.

Attorney Kim Hyun-soo of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, "For a crime of aiding and abetting to be established, there must be awareness and intent to facilitate the crime of the principal offender, but Mr. A was only a victim of a serial fraud who was deceived while trying to get a loan. We were able to get an acquittal by explaining that the loan was urgent due to the desperate economic situation he was in at the time and that there was no perception that it was a crime."

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 The information provided to receive a loan is in the hands of a fraudulent organization... A man in his 20s accused of being an accomplice was acquitted.
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