The shocking fraud activities of con artist Jeon Cheong-jo have been revealed in detail.
On the 12th, MBC Every1's 'Hidden Eye' conducted an in-depth analysis of the notorious con artist Jeon Cheong-jo case.
Jeon Cheong-jo deceived about 10 people between 2018 and 2020, lying about their gender and profession, and defrauding them out of more than 300 million won. On December 11, 2020, they were sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in prison. Jeon Cheong-jo, who had a prior conviction for fraud, did not stop their fraudulent activities even while imprisoned.
Professor Kwon Il-yong noted, "There are stories that while incarcerated, Jeon Cheong-jo pretended to be pregnant to receive better treatment from fellow inmates. The more shocking fact is that while corresponding with male inmates in a male prison, Jeon Cheong-jo maintained a marriage relationship and had a romantic relationship with a female foreign inmate in a women's prison, creating shock.
Upon release, Jeon Cheong-jo met former national fencing team member Nam Hyun-hee at a fencing academy, and their relationship developed into a romance. Jeon Cheong-jo presented expensive gifts such as cars and watches to Nam Hyun-hee and announced their marriage. At that time, Jeon Cheong-jo became a hot topic with various specifications, claiming to be a 15-year younger man, an American IT entrepreneur, a former equestrian, and the illegitimate child of a chaebol, but the two separated within two days.
When Jeon Cheong-jo first came to learn fencing with Nam Hyun-hee, they revealed their identity as a female and gained sympathy by claiming to have only six months to live while vomiting fake blood. Jeon Cheong-jo also lied, claiming that although they were born male, they had physical hardships and underwent gender reassignment surgery at the age of 25. To confirm these claims, Jeon Cheong-jo sent a childhood photo wearing men's clothing, which was later revealed to be a photo of their younger brother.
Furthermore, Jeon Cheong-jo falsely claimed to have received a testicular transplant. Kim Dong-hyun expressed disbelief, asking, "Is there such a thing medically? Is it possible?" Professor Kwon Il-yong emphasized, "It is obviously impossible with modern medical technology." However, Nam Hyun-hee believed it when a pregnancy test showed a positive result. This was also due to Jeon Cheong-jo giving Nam Hyun-hee a toy pregnancy test that showed two lines just by contact with tap water. Professor Pyoh Chang-won explained, "After becoming pregnant, they lied to make Nam Hyun-hee believe more by stating they would put a luxurious officetel in Nam Hyun-hee's name, claiming it was their home. The two then began cohabiting there.
Subsequently, Jeon Cheong-jo held seminars using Nam Hyun-hee's name and embezzled about 3 billion won in investment funds from 20 participants. Jeon Cheong-jo showed Nam Hyun-hee a bank statement indicating a balance of 51 trillion won and presented gifts totaling 600 million won, including a luxury car worth 400 million won and luxury goods, while also promising to repay a debt of 140 million won. However, immediate testimonies from acquaintances revealed that Jeon Cheong-jo was not a con artist with 10 prior convictions and was not a former equestrian, but rather from Ganghwa Island.
Later, Nam Hyun-hee discovered that Jeon Cheong-jo had sent fake text messages pretending to be a chaebol chairman to make her believe they were part of a wealthy family. An individual posing as a reporter also posted a script that Jeon Cheong-jo wrote for her on a community website, shattering her trust. Although Nam Hyun-hee decided to cut off ties with Jeon Cheong-jo, they went to Nam Hyun-hee's mother's house to plead. Eventually, Nam Hyun-hee's family reported Jeon Cheong-jo to the police, leading to additional charges of stalking.
Professor Kwon Il-yong analyzed, "It has been revealed that Jeon Cheong-jo underwent breast removal surgery. They claimed to have received hormone injections, but there is no record of them undergoing gender reassignment surgery. It appears that Jeon Cheong-jo's identity does not reflect a desire to live as a male but is rather a transformation occurring due to the need for their fraudulent methods.
Regarding the reason for targeting Nam Hyun-hee, it seems Jeon Cheong-jo believed that her fame would have influence. About five years before the marriage announcement, around July 2018, Jeon Cheong-jo initially approached a woman pretending to be male and even used a chest compression bandage, subsequently marrying that woman. Because of a prior success in defrauding the woman of money, it seems Jeon Cheong-jo thought it would be easier to deceive women while pretending to be male. It can also be speculated that they, having experienced it, were more adept at understanding the psychology of women, especially in the context of marriage. The ultimate goal may not have been Nam Hyun-hee herself. The fencing club run by Nam Hyun-hee attracted many affluent individuals, including the third generation of conglomerates and celebrity children. It seems Jeon Cheong-jo might have used Nam Hyun-hee as a stepping stone to target other individuals.
Professor Pyoh Chang-won explained, "Life itself is built on lies. Even unnecessary lies are often used. Have you heard of the Ripley syndrome? It requires a degree of self-belief to be possible. When a person with pathological lying engages in fraudulent crimes, the people around them do not notice any signs of deceit.
It has also been revealed that Jeon Cheong-jo's mother perpetrated secondary victimization by telling victims that 'if Jeon Cheong-jo is sued, they won't receive any money' every time her daughter committed fraud. Moreover, her father was the fugitive Jeon Chang-su, who was publicly wanted on suspicion of fraud. He deceived victims by posing as a wealthy person with assets worth hundreds of billions of won, embezzling 1.6 billion won and then fleeing. Jeon Chang-su, who had been on the run for six years, was arrested by the police two months after Jeon Cheong-jo was apprehended, for stealing a mobile phone after breaking into an empty office, and was ultimately sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison.
Furthermore, Jeon Chang-su's methods of fraud were similar to those of Jeon Cheong-jo. Detective Lee Dae-woo said, "During his time on the run, Jeon Chang-su did not meet Jeon Cheong-jo. One day, Jeon Cheong-jo contacted Jeon Chang-su and asked for help, explaining they were in a tough situation. It seems Jeon Chang-su provided a certain amount of assistance to his daughter. Around this time, Jeon Cheong-jo began to act as a wealthy person, able to formulate a larger scheme than even their father, involving the claim of having assets worth 51 trillion won and being the illegitimate child of a conglomerate.
In this regard, Professor Pyoh Chang-won expressed strong suspicion, stating, "It hasn't been proven, but did he only lend money? I personally suspect he might have advised her on her methods of fraud. Jeon Chang-su does not seem to have a will to raise his children correctly. While living this way and communicating with his children, they inevitably learn the psychology of crime without being taught the tricks. They learn motives and adopt behaviors. It seems that the role of the father played some part in Jeon Cheong-jo becoming a notorious con artist. However, there is no evidence of the father's direct involvement, encouragement, or teaching in Jeon Cheong-jo's actions, so he was not punished for them.
Jeon Cheong-jo was sentenced to 13 years in prison. In addition, the court ordered them to compensate the victims a total of more than 1.13 billion won. However, if Jeon Cheong-jo claims 'I have no money,' or 'I cannot compensate,' there are no means to enforce this, neither through fines nor criminal penalties. Kwon Il-yong stated, "Most of the luxury gifts like the car and designer bags received by Nam Hyun-hee have been voluntarily returned, and it's known that part of the debt has been settled with some victims. Strangely, Jeon Cheong-jo was reported to have said that they would repay the victims with money earned from writing a book while in prison.
[Photo] MBC Every1
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