A gym owner who lured customers into prepaying for sports facility passes and then vanished will face a police investigation.
Naju Police Station in South Jeolla said on the 27th that it began investigating after receiving a fraud complaint filed by 56 gym members against the operator.
The total damages they claim amount to about 56 million won. Individual member losses were found to range from hundreds of thousands of won to as much as 4 million won.
According to the complaint, the business told users it would move the store to a larger location and touted discounted prices to induce them to prepay for long-term memberships or personal training (PT) packages. Members said the owner then abruptly halted operations and cut off contact.
The gym opened in May 2023 and had been operating at about 150 pyeong in size. In an online group chat, about 200 members are gathering and compiling their payment records, and they are uniting to pursue both civil and criminal actions.
Based on the complaint, police plan to closely examine the specific circumstances that led members to prepay and the facility's business condition.
The gym said, "We did not go into hiding after closing. We are preparing to reopen after moving from the existing location to the building right next door," adding, "During the transfer process, members' anxiety and concerns grew, and we understand that refunds were issued to some members."