Translation result
Some members of the \”Honghui Group,\” who were forcibly repatriated from Cambodia on suspicion of participating in large-scale scams, appeared in court after being transported to Busan.
On March 16, the Busan District Court’s Criminal Division 6 (Presiding Judge Im Seong-cheol) held a pretrial conference for 10 alleged Honghui Group members charged with joining a criminal organization and related offenses. Pretrial conferences are used to narrow the issues and organize positions before a regular trial.
Ten defendants and their 10 attorneys were present. During the hearing, the court addressed the specific counts against them. Most defendants acknowledged the basic facts, though several disputed the extent of their involvement or their role within the organization as described in the indictment.
Regular trial proceedings are expected to begin at the next hearings. Due to scheduling conflicts among defense counsel, eight defendants are scheduled to appear on April 14, and the remaining two will appear on April 20.
Prosecutors say the Honghui Group operated in Cambodia from Aug. 22 to Dec. 9 last year, impersonating 144 institutions—including public agencies and hospitals—to ask certain suppliers to purchase goods on their behalf and then stealing the payments in a so-called \”no-show\” scam. Authorities allege the scheme defrauded 210 victims of 7.1 billion KRW (approximately 5.325 million USD).
The group used the name \”Honghui Group\” in a group messenger chat. Officials say 52 members were arrested in Cambodia last year: three returned to Korea voluntarily, while 49 were forcibly repatriated and transferred to the Busan Police Agency’s unit handling the no-show scam investigation.
On Feb. 13, prosecutors indicted 42 of the suspects. The three who returned voluntarily had already faced court proceedings by that date, and investigations into the seven not yet indicted are ongoing.
A prosecutor said the suspects were divided into four separate cases last month because of differences such as the large number of defendants and varying arrest dates, and those cases were then sent to trial.
The Busan District Court’s Criminal Division 7 (Presiding Judge Im Ju-hyeok) will hold the first trial for another 10 members on March 31, and Criminal Division 5 (Presiding Judge Kim Hyun-soon) will begin hearings for the remaining 22 members in two sessions starting April 8.
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