A YouTuber who deceived over 100 small business owners nationwide by promising to promote their shops through 'mukbang content' featuring a famous comedian has been sentenced to prison.
According to the legal community on July 30, Jeju District Court Criminal Division 4 Director General Jeon Seong-jun sentenced a YouTuber in his 40s, identified as A, to 4 years and 6 months in prison for fraud.
A has been tried for receiving about 351 million won from merchants operating restaurants and cafes in Jeju, Daegu, and Incheon from September 2021 to August 2023, promising to promote their shops on YouTube through mukbang videos featuring a famous comedian. The affected merchants were found to have paid between 2 million won and as much as 40 million won each.
In particular, A approached victims by saying, 'A terrestrial public recruitment comedian will appear,' and videos featuring well-known comedians were indeed uploaded on the YouTube channel. He also added, 'Even if the promotion doesn't go well, I will support 100,000 won in advertising revenue and delivery app fees every month,' gaining the victims' trust.
However, the investigation revealed that A did not have the capability to properly produce YouTube content at that time and was also burdened with debts amounting to tens of millions of won.
The former Director General pointed out, 'This is a fraud case involving repeated offenses against multiple victims and is certainly not a light matter,' adding, 'Most victims have not reached an agreement, and recovery for the victims has not been achieved.' He noted, however, 'I took into account that the defendant has acknowledged his mistake and is reflecting on it, and that he has reached an agreement with some victims' in explaining the sentencing reasons.
Meanwhile, both the prosecution and the defendant have filed an appeal, stating that 'the sentence is too heavy or too light.'
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]