Man finds out his 'wife' was already married with child

The Gwangju High Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that handed down a jail term for fraud to a woman who faked her marital status and scammed a man into marrying her and giving her money.

The 38-year-old defendant, who was given a prison term of three years and six months, had swindled a total of 570 million won ($430,000) from the victim in their one year of marriage that started in 2021. She pretended to be single and got the victim to marry her, when she had in fact been married since 2015 and had a child.

She even hired people to pretend to be her mother and guests at their wedding.

"The defendant hired people to hide the fact that she was married, and swindled a large sum of money. ... Considering that most of the damage has not been compensated, the decision by the lower court is justified," the court said in its ruling, adding that the defendant inflicted "irreversible psychological damage and substantial financial damage" to her victim.

The investigation found that the victim met the defendant at a bar in 2017, where she claimed to be a lecturer of Korean traditional dance and to own sizable real estate assets bought with the money she inherited from her father. It was later found that she was jobless and owned no real estate.

The victim handed over money multiple times during their relationship, including for buying their new home and to cover monthly expenses. The woman spent all of the money for her personal benefit, even buying her younger sibling a new car.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)