A group sentenced to heavy prison terms for posing as a "spirit medium named Jo Mal-rye" and extorting large sums from a home appliance company CEO couple has been referred to additional trials after being found to have falsely accused their victims.
The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office Women and Children Crime Investigation Division (head Lee Joo-hyun) announced on the 24th, "Jang Mo, 50 years old, and his former husband Shim Mo, 48 years old, were additionally indicted the previous day on charges of false accusation." Jang and Shim had recently been sentenced to 20 and 17 years in prison, respectively, on fraud charges for gaslighting the victim couple by impersonating the fictional spiritualist "Jo Mal-rye" and seizing approximately 7.7 billion Korean won, 1 billion Korean won worth of apartment shares, and other assets. However, it was revealed that Jang and Shim had falsely accused the victims—B, the wife of home appliance company CEO A, and C, A’s mother—of attempted child abduction, leading to their additional trial.
According to the prosecution, Jang’s group instructed B in September 2019, "As a mission from medium Jo Mal-rye, go to the school and bring our child to play," then spread false rumors to school staff that "B is attempting to abduct the child." In April 2025, they filed a complaint accusing B of attempted child abduction for profit and C of abetting the crime.
The police initially dismissed the case, finding no evidence against B and C....
A group sentenced to heavy prison terms for posing as a "spirit medium named Jo Mal-rye" and extorting large sums from a home appliance company CEO couple has been referred to additional trials af...