Paju Cafe Owner Built Freezer 'With Intent to Confine,' Fearing Detection of Counterfeit Gift Certificates

The cafe owner who trapped and murdered a woman inside a freezer at a cafe in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, allegedly installed the freezer in preparation for potential detection of counterfeit gift certificates during bulk transactions, police investigations revealed.

The Paju Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced today (September 14) that it has forwarded the suspect in his 30s, identified as cafe owner A, to the prosecution under detention on charges including murder of an abducted person and the forging and uttering of valuable securities.

Police believe that A attempted the transactions to gain financial profit by selling fake gift certificates worth approximately 50 billion won.

Investigations showed that the freezer was intentionally installed with the purpose of confining individuals who could pose an obstacle if problems arose during the transactions.

Police stated that they are still investigating and have not yet disclosed the specifics of A's plans or whether there was an explicit intent to murder.

To date, no circumstances indicating the involvement of accomplices in the murder have been found.

However, B, who acted as an intermediary between A and the victim during the gift certificate transactions involving counterfeiting, has been booked on charges of forging valuable securities and is currently under investigation.

Previously on the 4th, police discovered the body of a missing person, C, inside the freezer of a cafe in Munsan-eup, Paju, and arrested A on charges of murdering an abducted person.

Police formed a dedicated investigation team consisting of 17 personnel, including three homicide teams from the detective division of the Paju Police Station, to investigate the motive for the crime and suspected gift certificate fraud.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.