Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea, visited the National May 18th Democratic Cemetery in Buk-gu, Gwangju, on the 17th, a day before the May 18th Democratic Uprising anniversary, to pay his respects. Photo by Oh Seung-hyun, Gwangju.
[Seoul Economy] A so-called ‘no-show’ scam, where individuals impersonated Lee Jae-myung’s campaign team and swindled restaurant owners out of tens of millions of won, has emerged, prompting a police investigation.
On the 21st, the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station announced they received a complaint from a restaurant owner, referred to as Mr. A, who claimed to be a victim of a no-show scam and are currently verifying the facts of the case.
Mr. A prepared for a reservation after receiving a call on the 17th that Lee and his campaign team would be dining at his restaurant the following evening. As a bereaved family member of a May 18 Democratic Uprising victim, Mr. A believed the caller when they mentioned attending the commemorative ceremony, and he didn’t question the validity of the reservation.
The caller inquired about the meal preparations on the reservation day, pretending that a high-priced specific whiskey preferred by Lee was required. They claimed, “Individuals cannot purchase alcoholic beverages, so if the restaurant purchases and prepares it, we will pay you,” and provided an account number for a specific company.
Trusting these assertions, Mr. A transferred 24 million won. However, shortly after, the caller said, “A different schedule has come up, so we will cancel the reservation and reimburse you,” before cutting off contact. Later, Mr. A discovered that Lee’s campaign schedule meant he could never have dined in Gwangju that evening and thus filed a complaint with the police. The police, upon receiving the report, plan to track the flow of the transferred money and investigate further.
Meanwhile, this is not the first instance of such a no-show scam. According to the police the previous day, a restaurant owner in Osong-eup, Cheongju, known as Mr. B, received a call from a man posing as a special adviser on the Democratic Party’s publicity team. He requested Mr. B to prepare a specific whiskey and premium liquor that “Mr. Lee always drinks.” Suspicious, Mr. B verified the facts through the Democratic Party’s Chungbuk branch and was spared from being scammed.
A representative from the Democratic Party’s Chungbuk branch stated, “Up to now, about 10 no-show cases have been reported in the province,” explaining that “all cases are registered with similar scenarios, indicating a likely organized crime operation.”
In response, during a Central Election Countermeasure Committee meeting held at the central party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 21st, the Democratic Party described the no-show incidents as “despicable and vicious crimes targeting self-employed individuals who are already struggling to make a living” and vowed to “employ all means to identify and punish the perpetrators severely.”