By Kim Jae-heun
A Seoul court handed down a prison sentence of two years-and-six months to a Korean man who ran an English language institute in the Philippines, Thursday, for swindling 290 million won ($244,436) out of parents of students at the institute.
The Seoul Northern District Court also ordered the 36-year-old director, surnamed Kim, to pay 42 million won to some of the victims who demanded compensation.
Kim has been operating a language institute in Manila since 2008. In 2016, the director swindled 84 million won from a parent by saying he would help him buy an apartment in Manila for the child.
Using the same tactic, Kim defrauded another parent of 90 million won under the pretext of paying the deposit for a student's new home.
Two years later, he deceived eight more parents by saying their children were accepted to an international school there and he would handle the tuition fees on their behalf. Kim took around 55 million won from the parents.
Kim spent most of the money on gambling and paying off his gambling debt to loan sharks.
He fabricated the international school's admission letters and tuition receipts as well as notarial documents of apartment purchases, the court said.
“He fabricated documents without hesitation by taking advantage of the goodwill of the parents who sought language courses for their children's future. He committed multiple crimes over a long period of time, so stern punishment is inevitable,” the court said. “He also forged admission letters of an international school, which could damage Korea's reputation.”