Suspect printed 50 billion won in fake gift vouchers and set up freezer to silence anyone who might expose the scheme; victim had no prior connection to suspect

A closure notice is posted at a cafe in Munsan-eup, Paju, Gyeonggi Province, where the body of a missing woman in her 60s was found in a freezer on Thursday. [Newsis]
A closure notice is posted at a cafe in Munsan-eup, Paju, Gyeonggi Province, where the body of a missing woman in her 60s was found in a freezer on Thursday. [Newsis]

The owner of a cafe in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, who locked a woman in her 60s inside a walk-in freezer and left her to die, had installed the freezer as part of a plan to silence anyone who might discover that the gift vouchers he was selling were counterfeit, police said.

The Paju Police Station said Monday it had forwarded the case of suspect A, a cafe owner in his 30s, to prosecutors on charges including murder by entrapment and forgery and use of securities.

According to police, A had printed 50 billion won ($37.1 million) worth of counterfeit gift vouchers and planned to sell them for a large profit.

A is believed to have been trying to raise cash through a practice known as "gift voucher cashing" — a covert scheme in which large quantities of vouchers are traded for goods or cash and used for purposes such as money laundering. A had debts of more than 1 billion won and is thought to have turned to the scheme to secure a large sum quickly.

He had told a printing company the vouchers — denominated at 500,000 won each, ordered in 10 boxes — were for filming purposes. He had attempted to sell them once before but the deal fell through at an early stage.

While searching for new buyers, A heard through an acquaintance, identified as B, that a high-volume buyer B represented was interested in purchasing large quantities of vouchers. A then entered into negotiations.

A introduced himself as an agent acting on behalf of a large voucher holder — a fictitious person he invented to lend credibility to his claims.

As the deal progressed, A rented a walk-in freezer from a company in late August, had it installed in the front yard of his cafe, and stored the vouchers inside.

When the transaction reached the stage at which B — acting as the buyer's representative — was to inspect the vouchers in the freezer, A told B that the voucher holder he represented preferred a woman to handle the intermediate role of appraising the vouchers. B then asked an acquaintance, the victim identified as C, to take on that role, police said.

C had never met A before. She was also reportedly unaware of the specifics of what her role in the transaction would involve.

On Sept. 3, C traveled to Paju with B, met A, and went to his cafe, where she entered the freezer. Before locking her inside, A reportedly used C's mobile phone to video-call someone and film the vouchers.

While the appraisal was under way, A left C alone in the freezer and shut the door behind him. Trapped inside at minus 25 degrees Celsius, C was found dead roughly 24 hours later.

Police believe A had deliberately installed the freezer to confine anyone who might become a problem — such as someone who discovered the vouchers were fake — during the course of the fraudulent sales. C is believed to have become caught up in that plan.

However, police said it remains difficult to understand why A went as far as confinement and killing. On the question of whether A intended to threaten or to kill whoever he locked inside, police said, "We have some idea, but the accounts conflict and further verification is needed."

A has acknowledged confining the victim but denied any intent to kill. No evidence of an accomplice in the killing has emerged so far. B, who served as an intermediary between A and the victim in the voucher transaction, has been booked on charges of securities forgery and is under investigation.

Police are also investigating whether accomplices were involved in the voucher scheme, including the identity of the high-volume buyer B claimed to represent.

A is believed to have had a contingency plan in case the deal succeeded, though police said they could not disclose the details as the investigation is ongoing. Fleeing abroad was reportedly not part of the plan. Police said they intend to continue investigating A's intent to kill even after the case has been forwarded to prosecutors.

After locking C in the freezer, A reportedly asked people around him what would happen to a person placed inside one — a detail police say points to premeditation. He also allegedly lied to officers investigating C's disappearance immediately after the incident and switched her mobile phone on and off in an area unrelated to the crime scene in an apparent attempt to mislead the investigation.

The cause of C's death has not been officially determined, but her body was found completely frozen with no external injuries, leading police to conclude she most likely died from hypothermia and oxygen deprivation inside the freezer.

Police had discovered C's body in the freezer at a cafe in Munsan-eup, Paju, on Friday, and A was subsequently detained on charges of murder by entrapment.

Police assembled a 17-member investigative team drawn from three violent crime units within the Paju Police Station's criminal division to probe the motive and related fraud charges involving the counterfeit vouchers.


hss@heraldcorp.com