Korean members of the Thai crime group "Lungker Company," which originated in Cambodia, were given heavy sentences in their first trial.
The Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 14 (Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-hee) on the 11th sentenced Lungker Company Head of Team An, a person surnamed An (30), who was indicted on charges including joining and participating in a criminal organization, to 14 years in prison and ordered the forfeiture of 33 million won.
An is accused of playing a key role at Lungker Company as the romance scam Head of Team, posing as a woman on social media (SNS) to extort money from victims and managing team members' performance.
The court said, "As Head of Team, the defendant managed team members' performance and managed and controlled the team, playing a leading and central role," and added, "The period of participation in the crimes exceeds about seven months, there are about 700 victims, and the damage amounts to about 15 billion won."
The court also handed down heavy sentences to other Lungker Company members. Member A, who was indicted on charges including joining and participating in a criminal organization and violating the Act on the Return of Proceeds from Telecommunications-based Financial Fraud to Victims, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, and B and C, who were tried together, were sentenced to nine years and 10 years in prison, respectively.
Heavy sentences were also imposed on other Lungker Company members who were brought to trial on similar charges. The same court's Criminal Division 12 (Presiding Judge Kim Jeong-gon) sentenced a team-leader-level member, a person surnamed Jo (30), who was detained and indicted on charges including joining and participating in a criminal organization, to 12 years in prison and a forfeiture of 6.6 million won.
Four members who were brought to trial on the same charges were also sentenced to six to nine years in prison and forfeitures of 9 million to 12 million won.
They are suspected of participating for up to six months in Lungker Company, which was formed when members of a criminal group from the Cambodia border area moved their base to Thailand.
They mainly operated within the organization's "lottery compensation coin scam team" and "military unit and civilian impersonation no-show team," and are confirmed to have swindled more than 15 billion won from up to 691 people. They are also believed to have disrupted domestic restaurants' operations by committing so-called "no-show scams," such as impersonating military units to demand the supply of combat rations.