A couple has been sentenced to prison for gaslighting a victim into embezzling over 6 billion won by creating a fake shaman persona.

The defendants were sentenced on July 3 for their role as accomplices in the victim's embezzlement of company funds, ahead of their upcoming sentencing for charges of extortion and fraud.

On July 3, the Seoul Southern District Court’s Criminal Agreement Division 15 (Presiding Judge Noh Yu-kyung) sentenced a couple in their 40s, surnamed Jang and Shin, to eight years in prison each for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (Embezzlement).

The couple, who were married, first approached the victim, identified as Yoo, and her ex-husband, identified as Kim, after meeting them at a parents' gathering around 2018.

Kim, the victim of the gaslighting, was instructed by the fake shaman—introduced under the name "Jo Mal-rye"—to "bring money from the company as it is needed for an altar." Following these instructions, Kim embezzled 6.587 billion won from the company and handed it over.

However, investigations revealed that the shaman Jo Mal-rye was a fictional character created by Jang, and that the entire scheme was a ruse orchestrated by Jang, who had been impersonating the shaman.

The court stated, "The nature of the crime is very poor, as the defendants psychologically dominated Kim, who was a vice president or CEO of the company at the time, and caused her to embezzle company funds worth 6.6 billion won," adding, "Given the defendants' attitude toward the law, it is doubtful whether they are truly reflecting on their actions."

The victim, Kim, was previously indicted for embezzling company funds and was sentenced to three years in prison this past April.

The sentencing for Jang and Shin regarding the extortion and fraud charges related to this case is scheduled for July 14.

(Photo: Yonhap News)