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Brother, sister duo fined for exploiting woman with disabilities to make credit cards

Published: 27 May. 2025, 11:07

An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A brother and sister in their 30s were fined for exploiting a woman with a severe intellectual disability by convincing her to open phone accounts and making unauthorized credit card purchases in her name.

The Ulsan District Court sentenced the woman and the man to fines of 10 million won ($7,316) each, the court announced Tuesday.

In April 2023, the siblings persuaded the woman in her 30s, who had a severe intellectual disability and had grown up in the same neighborhood, to open two mobile phone accounts in her name. They told her they would cover the phone bills, but did not pay the charges for seven months, amounting to about 3.1 million won.

The sister used one of the phones to access a banking app and issued a credit card under the woman’s name, using it to make 131 unauthorized purchases over the course of two months on online shopping platforms. The total amount spent was 3.57 million won.

The brother, upon learning that the disabled woman had taken out a bank loan, asked to borrow money and had 2.6 million won transferred to his personal account.

The siblings also subjected the woman to emotional abuse by shouting at and verbally insulting her.

The court noted that the siblings were fully aware of the woman’s disability, having known her since childhood and living in the same neighborhood.

“The sister has a prior conviction for a similar offense, and the brother committed the crime while under a suspended sentence for another offense,” the court said.

“However, both admitted to the crimes and reached a settlement with the victim, returning part of the money, which was taken into consideration in sentencing.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]