3 Koreans nabbed in job opportunity scam against Nepalese

Three Koreans have been busted on suspicion of trying to swindle large sums of money from Nepalese with a false pledge of job opportunity in Guatemala, police said Wednesday.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said they have arrested a 53-year-old man, identified only by his surname Lee, and booked two others without physical detention on charges of attempting to defraud.

The three are suspected of trying to take around one hundred million won ($88,183) in total from 38 Nepali job seekers by falsely saying that they would be hired at a factory located in the Central American country, the police said.

The victims, all working as doctors or teachers in Nepal, sent their passports via airmail to the suspects living in South Korea after being lied to that they would be paid higher wages at a fictitious factory, the SMPA officers said.

To assure investors about the employment, Lee sent one of his accomplices to Nepal posing as a Korean police officer, demanding an upfront payment of 2.7 million won.

Investigators said Lee, who had met his two accomplices in a South Korean prison while serving a jail term for separate fraud charges, even lied to his accomplices that there is actually a factory in Guatemala.

"Large sums of money have been deposited in Lee's personal account, suggesting that there are more victims," an officer close to the investigation said, adding that the police will further investigate. (Yonhap)