Ex-Gwangju mayor swindled by fake ex-first lady

By Kim Rahn

Former Gwangju Mayor Yoon Jang-hyun

Former Gwangju Mayor Yoon Jang-hyun fell victim to voice phishing, sending hundreds of millions of won to a woman who claimed to be former first lady Kwon Yang-sook, Roh Moo-hyun's widow.

According to the prosecution, Sunday, Yoon received a text message in December when he was mayor, in which the sender identified herself as Kwon and said she needed 500 million won urgently and would pay it back soon.

Yoon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), had been close to Roh and met Kwon several times. Yoon called the number, and the person said ― using a South Gyeongsang provincial dialect like Kwon ― she needed money for her daughter's business.

Yoon transferred 450 million won to the bank account that the women provided.

But she turned out to be a 49-year-old woman surnamed Kim who has been previously convicted of fraud. She had volunteered for the DPK in the past and obtained phone numbers of several Gwangju-based politicians including Yoon. The bank account belonged to Kim's daughter.

Yoon told prosecutors the voice on the phone was exactly like Kwon's. But Kim was from Gwangju, not the Gyeongsang region.

Kim sent such text messages to about 10 more politicians, representing herself as Kwon or current first lady Kim Jung-sook. One such person reported this to police. Until the investigation began in October, Yoon did not know he had been swindled, according to the prosecution. He was the only person who sent money to Kim, while others did not respond as they believed it was a scam.