Woman gets one year in prison for loans taken through boyfriend's phone

Chuncheon District Court sentenced a 29-year-old woman to one year in prison for obtaining loans through her boyfriend's phone without his permission, South Korean outlets reported on October 18. The defendant, identified only as A, was prosecuted for computer-related fraud. Judge Jeong Jong-geon (정종건), presiding over the court's first single-judge criminal division, imposed the sentence. The case concerned roughly 74 million won obtained through 26 loan transactions by May 2023, according to the accounts of the charges carried by Yonhap and the newspapers. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]

According to the indictment described in the reports, A used her boyfriend's phone to access a financial application in July 2022. She entered personal information about him that she already knew, without obtaining permission, and secured a loan of 35 million won. She moved the entire loan amount into her own account. The borrowing continued through May 2023, with the reported total covering 26 transactions. Maeil Business described the offence as obtaining a financial benefit by entering information into a computer or other information-processing device without authorisation and causing it to process that information. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]

Yonhap reported that the defendant never appeared in court after the case went to trial. After she disappeared, the court followed public-notice service procedures and sentenced her in her absence. Yonhap described that procedure as publication in the official gazette after a defendant does not receive documents and fails to participate, with the notice then deemed delivered. Explaining the sentence, the judge cited the large sum taken and the defendant's lack of previous convictions. Maeil Business also reported that the court considered the motive, methods and outcome of the offence. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]