A 30-year-old man who deceived others by passing off gold-plated silver bracelets as solid gold has had his sentence reduced by half in an appeals court.

The Chuncheon District Court's Criminal Division 1 (Chief Judge Shim Hyun-geun) announced on the 27th that the sentence for A (37), who was charged with fraud and attempted fraud, was changed from 5 years in prison to 2 years and 6 months in the appeals hearing.

A is accused of visiting 18 pawn shops across the country from September to October last year and deceiving them into believing that gold-plated silver bracelets were solid gold bracelets weighing 20 "don" (approximately 75 grams), defrauding a total of over 120 million won. This method of pawn shop fraud seems to exploit the difficulty in accurately determining the authenticity of precious metals.

Furthermore, A also falsely claimed that a gold-plated necklace was a solid gold necklace weighing 20 "don" at a pawn shop in Mokpo, Jeollanam-do, demanding a secured loan. However, during this process, the fact that the necklace was gold-plated was discovered, leading to a report to the police.

Circumstances of the Crime and Court's Judgment

According to the investigation, A was found to have committed the crime in an organized manner with accomplices, and it was revealed that he participated in the scheme with the understanding that he would receive 200,000 won for each successful loan secured by misleading others into believing the gold-plated products were solid gold. This can be regarded as a typical form of organized pawn shop fraud.

The first-instance court at the Chuncheon District Court's Yeongwol Branch stated, "The nature of the crime is very poor, and the defendant has not repaid the victims," sentencing A to 5 years in prison and also ordering compensation of 20.5 million won.

In response, A appealed, claiming in the appeals court that he was unaware the gold bracelets and necklaces provided by his accomplices were gold-plated and that he was merely fulfilling the role of receiving money as instructed. However, this claim was not accepted by the court.

The appeals court pointed out that when accomplice B suggested, "Let's work together," A did not immediately accept but showed signs of suspicion. A's failure to verify the authenticity of the gold products was also noted, leading the court to conclude that A was aware of the gold-plating and willingly participated in the crime. Additionally, instances where some pawn shop operators recognized the products as gold-plated and lodged complaints, along with A continuing to commit the same type of fraud even after being investigated by the police, were cited as further grounds for the guilty verdict.

However, the court explained that while A's actions were highly blameworthy, it did not appear that he was the primary planner of the criminal activities, and the profits he gained were not significant. Accordingly, A's sentence was reduced to 2 years and 6 months, half of the original sentence.

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