CONTENTS
- 1. Daegu Law Office | Background of the Case
- - How the Client Came to Know the Offender
- - The Client Sued on a Charge of Fraud
- - Request for Digital Forensics Recovery
- 2. Daegu Law Office | Case Analysis
- - Rebuttal of the Fraud Charge
- - Legal Principles Concerning Stalking
- 3. Daegu Law Office | Offender Referred to the Prosecutors' Office on Stalking Charges
1. Daegu Law Office | Background of the Case
The client who came to an attorney with the Daegu attorney office was a married woman who had suffered online stalking, and she wished to file a criminal complaint over the continued contact and obsessive conduct of a man she had met online.
However, fearing that her husband would discover this fact, she said that she had deleted the messenger records.
Ultimately, the Daegu attorney worked together with the Daeryun Law Firm Digital Forensics Group in order to safely recover the stalking evidence.
How the Client Came to Know the Offender
The client first met the offender through an online game.
The two became close while playing the game together.
They later met offline and developed into a romantic relationship, including sexual relations.
The client, however, felt burdened by the offender's continued requests for marriage and persistent overtures of affection, and was the first to ask to break up.
The offender did not accept this and instead became obsessive, continuing to demand that they keep meeting.
The offender even harassed the client by repeatedly accessing the client's online game account and triggering notifications.
The Client Sued on a Charge of Fraud
In the end, the client disclosed that he was a married person and asked the other party to stop contacting him,
After learning that he was married, the other party filed a criminal complaint against the client for fraud, claiming that the client had intentionally deceived her and extorted money and goods (such as dating expenses).
She also continued to send messages demanding money under the pretext of a settlement payment.
Request for Digital Forensics Recovery
Fearing that she might be divorced if her husband learned of the matter, the client had deleted all of the messages received from the victim, but she came to the Daegu law office wishing to file a criminal complaint regarding the perpetrator's excessive stalking.
She also asked that all of the evidence be recovered through digital forensics.
In response, the Daegu attorneys worked together with the Daeryun Law Firm 🔗Examination of Evidence Center to recover the deleted SNS messages and the game application messages.
As a result of the forensic work, approximately 11,000 messages were all recovered.
2. Daegu Law Office | Case Analysis
An attorney at the Daegu law office analyzed the issues and prepared a rebuttal.
🔗Act on Punishment of Crime of Stalking The attorney reviewed the relevant legal principles and sought to establish that the perpetrator's conduct constituted clear 🔗stalking conduct.
Rebuttal of the Fraud Charge
The complainant claimed that the client had concealed the fact that he was married, dated the complainant, and that all of the dating expenses incurred during the relationship amounted to extortion of money and goods.
This may raise the following questions.
▷ Do the dating expenses used by the complainant meet the elements of fraud?
To state the conclusion first, if intent is recognized, fraud may be established.
🔗Fraud under the pretext of marriage refers to deceiving the other party and, under the pretext of marriage, fraudulently obtaining money or otherwise causing financial harm.
Although this is not a crime defined as such by statute, it may constitute the crime of fraud if there is deception under the pretext of marriage, followed by the transfer of financial benefit or property, together with intent.
This case, however, was different.
The complainant had continually demanded marriage from the client and urged a serious relationship, but after learning that the client was married, the complainant engaged in repeated stalking, filed a complaint alleging fraud, and demanded a settlement payment.
In other words, the client argued that the client had not demanded marriage and that there had been no act of demanding or extorting money or goods on that pretext.
The client stated that, on the contrary, the complainant had been raising allegations of fraud against the client and threatening the client in order to obtain money and goods under the guise of a settlement payment.
Legal Principles Concerning Stalking
🔗The Act on Punishment of Crime of Stalking is a statute that punishes the following acts.
Type of Act | Description |
Approaching and following | Approaching, following, or blocking the path of the other party, a person living with them, or a family member |
Waiting and watching | Waiting or watching at or near a place where the other party lives, such as a residence, workplace, or school |
Delivering objects | Causing objects or the like to reach the other party by mail, telephone, fax, or an information and communications network |
Transmitting electronic messages | Causing text, words, signs, sounds, pictures, video, or images to appear to the other party through a mobile phone or similar device |
Delivering and placing objects | Causing objects or the like to reach the other party directly or through a third party, or placing objects at or near the residence |
Damaging objects | Damaging objects placed at or near the residence or the like |
Distributing personal information | Providing, distributing, or posting personal information, personal location information, or the like to a third party through an information and communications network |
Identity impersonation | Impersonating the other party by using their name, title, photograph, video, or identity information through an information and communications network |
The key element is that the above stalking acts are carried out continuously or repeatedly.
A person who commits the above crime may be subject to imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million won.
3. Daegu Law Office | Offender Referred to the Prosecutors' Office on Stalking Charges
The attorney with the Daegu attorney office analyzed the digital forensics results and established the perpetrator's stalking charges.
In particular, citing Supreme Court Decision 2018Do14610, rendered on November 14, 2018, the attorney pointed out that repeatedly leaving visit records on the client's account and thereby leaving notifications was clearly stalking conduct.
(Supreme Court Decision 2018Do14610, rendered on November 14, 2018: Where a message that causes fear or anxiety is sent to the other party's mobile phone and reaches a state in which the other party can immediately access it, the elements of the offense are satisfied.)
This meant that even if the client did not personally check the visit records within the application, this still constituted stalking conduct that satisfied the elements of the offense.
Ultimately, using evidence that was lawfully recovered with the assistance of the Digital Forensics Group, the client could mount a rebuttal, and the client's case could be referred to the prosecutors' office.
If, as in this case, you have experienced 🔗cyberstalking and wish to recover deleted evidence, you may submit a consultation request through 🔗legal consultation booking.
This content is based on actual case studies of Daeryun Law LLC with some adaptations, and the copyright belongs to our firm.
Unauthorized reproduction, duplication, or distribution and other copyright infringements may result in legal action under applicable laws.
