Mastermind of 38 Billion Won Hacking Scheme Targeting BTS Member Jungkook and Tycoons Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

The mastermind behind a hacking organization that stole 38 billion won by using the stolen identities of wealthy individuals in South Korea, including BTS member Jung Kook and major conglomerate chairmen, has been sentenced to a heavy prison term in the first trial.

The 31st Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Park Jun-seok) sentenced the Chinese national, surnamed Jeon, to 20 years in prison yesterday (August 20) on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes and violations of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc.

The court reprimanded, "They targeted wealthy individuals to plunder their assets, and unlike typical voice phishing victims, the victims in this case lost their assets defenselessly without any fault of their own."

The court further pointed out, "This is a grave crime that shakes not only individual victims but also the foundation of the public financial system."

The court stated that the sentence was determined considering factors such as the inability to confirm the existence of the person Jeon claimed to be the actual mastermind, making it difficult to view him as genuinely reflecting on his wrongdoing.

Jeon is accused of organizing a cybercrime syndicate overseas in places like Thailand and illegally collecting personal information from August 2023 to January of last year. He then illicitly opened budget mobile phones under the victims' names and siphoned off approximately 38 billion won by transferring assets from their financial and cryptocurrency accounts.

Investigations showed that the victims of Jeon's crimes included celebrities such as BTS's Jung Kook and the heads of companies ranked within the top 30 business groups.

The targets included 8 corporate chairmen, CEOs, and presidents, 1 executive, 3 celebrities and influencers, and 3 cryptocurrency investors.

However, in the case of Jung Kook, who was targeted for the theft of HYBE shares worth approximately 8.4 billion won, it was reported that his agency took prompt measures such as freezing payments immediately after noticing the damage, preventing actual financial loss.

Police cooperated with Interpol to apprehend Jeon in Thailand in May of last year.

Jeon was repatriated to South Korea in August of the same year through cooperation between the Ministry of Justice and the National Police Agency, and was indicted while detained in September of that year.

(Photo provided by the Ministry of Justice, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.