A card payment transaction. [Yonhap]
A card payment transaction. [Yonhap]

A neighboring couple who found and used a lost card belonging to a man in his 70s are under police investigation on fraud charges.

JTBC's crime affairs program "Sageon Banjang" on Tuesday featured a tip about a couple who used a local currency card lost by a man in his 70s living alone, spending more than 1.5 million won ($1,060) at supermarkets, pharmacies and other stores over the course of a month.

According to the tip, the elderly victim has had difficulty with communication and daily life since a farming tractor accident years ago. His son, who is in his 40s, transferred to a job near his father's home to check on him regularly.

The son eventually learned that his father had lost his local gift card, which the son loaded with about 400,000 won each month as an allowance. He had the card reissued but did not report the original as lost.

Two days later, a notification arrived showing a hospital charge on the lost card. When the son contacted the hospital, there was no record of his father receiving treatment. The card was subsequently used at a pharmacy and a supermarket as well.

The son visited each place where the card had been used and reviewed closed-circuit television footage. He identified the couple living two doors down from his father's home as the ones using the card.

After the son filed a police complaint against the couple, they returned the card. They reportedly pushed back, saying, "Why did you file a complaint against us without even hearing what your father had to say?" The couple claimed the father had authorized them to use the card in lieu of an unpaid tab.

They said the father had eaten meals and drunk coffee at their snack bar without paying, and that he had allowed them to use the card to settle the debt. However, no clear records have been found to support that claim.

The son maintains there was no reason for his father to run up a tab. He said he had given his father 1 million won in cash just days before the period when the alleged debt was said to have accumulated, and that his father generally preferred cash over cards.

The son also said additional evidence has emerged suggesting the couple used another card belonging to his father. He said confirmed losses over the past month alone total 1.5 million won, and that suspected cumulative losses could reach 20 million won.

Police are investigating the couple on fraud charges after receiving the formal complaint.


bbo@heraldcorp.com