Man Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison in Appeals Court for Forging 50,000-Won Bill with Copier to Buy Cigarettes

▲ Counterfeit banknote

A man in his 30s who used a copy machine to fabricate fake 50,000-won banknotes to buy cigarettes has been sentenced to prison in his appeals trial.

The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 14-1 (Presiding Judges Lee Hyung-geun, Lee Hyun-woo, and Jung Kyung-geun) recently sentenced the man in his 30s, surnamed A, to one year in prison on charges including currency forgery and uttering forged currency.

While the sentence was reduced from the one year and six months handed down in the first trial, the prison term was upheld.

In late August of last year, A forged six 50,000-won bills by copying both sides of a 50,000-won banknote using a color printer at his home.

He subsequently used one of the counterfeit bills to purchase a pack of cigarettes at a store in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, and attempted to buy cigarettes with another fake bill at a different store on the same day.

However, after the store clerk grew suspicious of the banknote, he paid with genuine currency instead.

Investigations revealed that A committed the crime after watching videos about counterfeit money on YouTube while experiencing financial difficulties due to a lack of steady income.

The court stated, "In the appeals trial, we took into consideration in sentencing that the defendant apologized to and reached a settlement with the victim, who does not wish for him to be punished."

It added, "A has confessed and is remorseful, and appears to have committed the crime while in financially dire circumstances," explaining that "we also considered that the methods and means of banknote forgery were not professional and that the duration of the crime was not long."

The ruling was finalized on the 21st after neither side appealed.

(Photo provided by Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)

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