▲ Chuncheon District Court
A woman in her 40s has been sentenced to prison for swindling tens of millions of won from romantic partners she met on a dating application by lying about needing money for hospital bills and car rental fees.
Judge Jeong Jong-geon of the Chuncheon District Court, presiding over the first criminal division, sentenced the defendant, identified as A, to eight months in prison on fraud charges.
A is accused of deceiving a victim, B, whom she met on a dating app in October 2022. While they were in a relationship, she claimed she was short on funds for her father's hospital and surgery expenses, promising to pay the money back later.
Investigations revealed that at the time, A had no significant assets and was carrying a large amount of debt. It was discovered that she intended to use the money received from the victim for living expenses rather than medical bills.
She had neither the intention nor the ability to repay the money from the beginning.
It was determined that A received a total of 31.58 million won from B through 28 separate transfers between November 2022 and February 2023.
Furthermore, she was also charged with scamming another victim, C, whom she met on the same app. She deceived C by claiming she would pay him back if he covered her car rental costs, swindling approximately 14.579 million won over 36 instances between February and October 2023.
In court, A argued that she had been in a long-term relationship and lived with C, and that the money was received as part of sharing living expenses, denying any intent to deceive or defraud.
However, the court rejected her claims, noting that the living expenses A contributed were negligible and that the vehicle was primarily used by A herself.
Judge Jeong pointed out that while the total amount swindled from the victims reached approximately 46 million won, the amount repaid was minimal.
The judge stated that he did not order the defendant to be taken into custody immediately, as he determined it was necessary to provide her with an opportunity to make restitution to the victims.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.