Exclusive: 'Second Jeon Cheong-jo' Goes Into Hiding After Release, Placed on Wanted List

[Anchor]

We exclusively reported last May about a case where a man in his 20s posed as a wealthy woman and carried out luxury goods fraud. After being released on probation while imprisoned for another fraud case, he has vanished, prompting the police to launch a manhunt.

Reporter Kim Gyu-ri has the details.

[Reporter]

A man in his 20 surnamed Park posed as a wealthy female influencer on social media, promoting the sale of luxury goods at bargain prices.

Victims flooded forward, stating that lured by prices at one-tenth of the market value, they sent money for goods they never received even after two years.


[SBS 8 News (May 11): This woman, who flaunted her wealth with luxury officetels and supercars, turned out to be a man in his 20s. Victims unanimously noted the similarities to the past Jeon Cheong-jo case.]

In this case, brought to light by an exclusive SBS report last May, the number of confirmed victims has reached about 50, with damages surging up to 4.5 billion won.

At the time of the report, Park was already detained in a detention center for another fraud crime, having signed a contract to take over the cafe where he worked without paying more than 100 million won in payments.

[Cafe Employee: We couldn't get in touch with him, so we thought he was sick. That turned out not to be the case.]

Police investigating the "second Jeon Cheong-jo case" proved the charges through visits to the detention center and forwarded part of the case to prosecutors in early July.

The problem began on July 16, when Park was released after receiving a suspended sentence in an appellate trial for his previous fraud case.

Police applied for an arrest warrant for Park on charges of luxury goods fraud, but ahead of his pre-trial detention hearing scheduled for August 18, Park went missing.

Although the arrest warrant was issued in an in-absentia hearing without the suspect present, Park had already vanished.

Regarding suspicions over why they did not rush to secure custody, the police explained that Park had been cooperative after his release—appearing for summons investigations with a lawyer—and had admitted to the charges while stating an intent to compensate for the damages.

The police, who have belatedly launched a manhunt, placed a travel ban on Park and put him on a nationwide wanted list.

(Video Editing: Lim Yeojin, VJ: Noh Jaemin, Design: Kang Yoon-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.