1. Case Overview

The client, an Uzbekistani national, stayed in Korea as an international student for about 7 years and became fluent in Korean. With his Korean skills, he worked as an interpreter, but when the period of stay expired and the living expenses became insufficient, he was arrested and charged with fraud for embezzling money in the name of job placement or visa issuance for foreign workers who are not fluent in Korean.

2. Applicable Law

Article 347 of the Criminal Act stipulates that an act of deceiving a person to receive property or gain property is fraudulent, punishable by imprisonment up to 10 years or a fine up to 20 million won. In order for fraudulent act to be established, there must be an intention to deliberately deceive a person, and there must be an illegal intention to obtain property benefits. If the amount of profit from such fraud is more than 100 million won, he could be subject to a higher level of punishment according to the Supreme Court's sentencing standards.

3. Assistance of Counsel

Our defense counsel, who conducted interviews with our foreign affairs team's judicial interpreter, judged that the case was not light in light of the number of victims, the method of crime, and the nature of the crime, and listened to the detailed circumstances of the case and began to prepare for a defense argument. After that, our defense counsel strongly argued that the client had admitted all the crimes from the beginning and actively cooperated with the investigation, and repenting of his wrongdoing, and that the client, who is a Muslim, had many difficulties such as not being able to eat properly in the detention center. In addition, our defense counsel actively defended so that the client could receive a suspended sentence, by helping to reach a settlement with the foreign victims, with the assistance of our foreign staff, translating and notarizing the settlement agreement, and submitting it to the court.

4. Outcome

The client was arrested in a foreign soil far from home and was facing prison time, but was sentenced to six months in prison with two years of probation, and was able to return to his home country thanks to the assistance from our defense counsel.

5. Significance of the Outcome

The suspended sentence was even more meaningful because the client was an Uzbekistanian and the victims were foreigners, including Uzbekistanian and Russian, so if it wasn’t Law-Win’s defense counsel, which is equipped with professional interpreters and services, they could have been sentenced without proper assistance.