The owner of a rent-a-car company, who extorted money by threatening to reveal private videos of an idol group member captured on a black box, has been sentenced to a suspended prison term.
According to the legal community on the 18th, the Incheon District Court's Criminal Division 14 sentenced the rent-a-car owner, Mr. A, to 8 months in prison, with a 2-year suspended sentence, and ordered 120 hours of community service. This ruling has been finalized.
The court stated, “We considered that the defendant returned a significant amount of money extorted from the victim” as a reason for the sentencing.
Mr. A rented a vehicle to female idol member B on February 20 of last year. While checking the black box of the returned vehicle, he discovered footage of B engaging in physical contact with a male idol group member.
Using the private video as leverage, Mr. A sent a message to B saying, “What did you do in the back seat of the car yesterday? Isn’t that too much?” and demanded cash, stating, “The car cost a total of 47 million won, so just give me half first.”
He also mentioned the black box footage to B, saying, “It’s being recorded in real-time,” and adopted a threatening stance that he would distribute the video if she did not pay him. As a result, B handed over a total of 979,300 won to Mr. A over three transactions.
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
