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| Victims of Mergepoint's Ponzi scheme wait in front of the pre-paid service's headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu, western Seoul, on Aug. 13. Korea Time file |
By Kim Jae-heun
Victims of the 'Mergepoint' incident have filed a lawsuit against e-commerce firms like TMON, WeMakePrice, eBay Korea and Lotte Shopping for neglecting to verify the credibility of its business partner and making profits while customers became victims of the Ponzi scheme.
Mergepoint is a firm that sold e-coupons giving a 20 percent discount on the price of particular items. People could use the coupons to shop online and buy coffee and food at some 60,000 stores across the country.
However, issues surfaced in early August when the Financial Supervisory Service said Mergepoint needs to register its electronic finance business under relevant financial laws.
Mergepoint had to halt its business temporarily and customers were restricted to using Mergepoint e-coupons at restaurants only. This led them to ask for refunds on e-coupons they had purchased, while Mergepoint failed to comply.
According to Kang & Partners, the victims' legal representative, platform operators did not fulfill their responsibility to check Merge Plus's credit rating or if it had a legitimate business structure capable of handling a certain scale of debt.
"E-commerce firms attracted customers by conducting aggressive marketing (with Mergepoint) that was attributed to expanding the damage of the Ponzi scheme," a Kang & Partner lawyer Kang Dong-won said.
Kang & Partners plans to launch class action lawsuits against e-commerce firms. Under the law, platform operators are held responsible even if there was no intention to cause damage or abet in alleged fraud by contracted companies like Mergepoint.
Taking legal action against e-commerce firms may increase the chance of victims to be compensated.
However, eBay Korea, Lotte Shopping and TMON said they are not responsible, because they only provided platforms and took commission fees. E-commerce firms argued that there is a limit to their responsibility to verify the credibility of other firms.
"We are also watching the case and discussing the situation with our legal representatives. If we find any practices related to the violation of contract with Mergepoint, we can also be classified as a victim and we will file a lawsuit against the pre-paid service," an e-commerce firm official said asking not to be identified.
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