By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
A local court has removed degree scammer Shin Jeong-ah from a debt workout program after finding that she had lied about her financial status when applying for the program.
The Seoul Central District Court said Sunday that it has decided to annul the personal workout program for the former Dongguk University art professor.
Under the program, the court helps those who become bankrupt pay off their debts gradually.
There have been cases where the court has scrapped the program as applicants failed to follow the payment schedule, but this is the first reported case of a court doing so due to false reporting of income.
Indebted for 104 million won, Shin applied for the program in September 2005 and has been paying off the debt since March last year. However, later it was found that during the application process, the credit defaulter had not report her property worth 115 million won and 1.1 million won monthly income. She also had over 500 million won in stocks.
``Shin did not report that she was a university professor, who could make regular income. We decided to scrap her off the program after inspecting her actual financial status,'' the court said.
She is under trial after being arrested last month for forging academic credentials, getting jobs with her fabricated academic background, and embezzling parts of corporate donations to an art gallery where she was a curator.