The sentence for Jeon Cheong-jo, who is serving time on fraud charges totaling about 3 billion won, was increased after additional fraud offenses came to light.
According to legal sources on the 26th, the Cheongju District Court Criminal Division 2 Single-Judge (Presiding Judge Lim Jin-soo) sentenced Jeon Cheong-jo, 29, who was indicted and detained on fraud charges, to two months in prison suspended for one year for offenses committed before the date of the final ruling, and to 10 months in prison for offenses committed afterward.
Under current law, when there is a final ruling between offenses, cases cannot be bundled into a single sentence, so the court divided the sentence based on when the offenses occurred. Jeon had previously received a final sentence of two years and three months in prison at the Incheon District Court in Dec. 2020 in a separate fraud case, followed by six months in prison in Mar. 2021 and six months in prison suspended for two years in Jun. of the same year. Jeon was found to have reoffended after being paroled while serving time.
In May 2019, Jeon deceived victim B, who lived in Dangjin, South Chungcheong, by saying, "If you invest, I will pay back the principal plus interest," and took money; then, when B demanded the return of the investment in Jan. 2020, Jeon deceived B by saying, "To get back the principal and interest, you have to pay a fee," and, on the 16th of the same month, took 3.96 million won in four transactions, leading to indictment on those charges.
Then, from Jul. 14 to Aug. 19, 2022, during the parole period, Jeon deceived B by saying, "If you put money into overseas investments, I will grow your assets," and took 76.9 million won in 20 transactions, among other acts, and is also charged with stealing a total of 80.86 million won in 24 transactions.
The court said, "The amount of damage is not small, and some of the offenses were committed during parole and a repeat-offender period, so the blameworthiness is high," adding, "The defendant has not been forgiven by the victim, and the damage has not been fully remedied." However, it noted, "Considering that the defendant admitted to the offenses and repaid part of the damages, and for consistency with what would have been imposed had the final-ruling case been tried simultaneously, we determined the sentence accordingly."
From Apr. 2022 to Oct. 2023, Jeon was sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges including defrauding about 3.5 billion won from more than 30 victims met through lectures and other events, and is currently serving time at Cheongju Women's Prison. In the process, Jeon was also charged with assaulting and threatening a middle-school nephew of former national fencing team member Nam Hyun-hee, who had been Jeon's fiancé.