Bank checks, a stamp and a box used by the suspect are displayed at the Gunpo Police Station in Gyeonggi Province. (Gunpo Police Station)
Bank checks, a stamp and a box used by the suspect are displayed at the Gunpo Police Station in Gyeonggi Province. (Gunpo Police Station)

A man aged 33 was indicted in detention for forging bank checks worth up to 5.9 billion won ($4.05 million) to flaunt his wealth and lure women, authorities said Friday.

The Anyang branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office in Gyeonggi Province indicted the man Tuesday on charges of forging 5,974 bank checks worth 1 million won each.

According to the police, the suspect had the papers printed at a printing shop in August 2021, claiming they were props for a YouTube video. The counterfeit checks were produced on paper with features similar to real checks, and images resembling genuine bank checks were created using Photoshop.

A 33-year-old man has been indicted in detention for forging bank checks worth up to 5.9 billion won ($4.05 million) in an attempt to flaunt his wealth and lure women, authorities said Friday.

The Anyang branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office in Gyeonggi Province indicted the man Tuesday on charges of producing 5,974 counterfeit checks with a face value of 1 million won each.

According to prosecutors, the suspect had the papers printed at a printing shop in August 2021, claiming they were props for a YouTube video. The checks were printed on paper resembling genuine bank check stock, with images of real checks recreated using Photoshop.

Although the printing shop had marked the back of the papers with the word “Specimen,” the suspect later stamped over the marking to conceal it.

The scheme came to light when a woman who had been in a relationship with the suspect took about 400 of the 1 million won specimen checks after they broke up and attempted to cash some of them at a bank in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province.

A bank teller noticed irregularities in the serial numbers and reported the case to the police.

During the investigation, authorities found that the suspect had used the checks to impress women, carrying them in his wallet and sending photos of stacks of the papers through social media messages.

Citing a 2008 Supreme Court ruling that image files created through computer scanning are difficult to regard as documents with legal effect, prosecutors determined that the former girlfriend could not be charged for attempting to cash the papers and released her without indictment.

Police pull out counterfeit checks from the suspect’s car during a search. (Gunpo Police Station)
Police pull out counterfeit checks from the suspect’s car during a search. (Gunpo Police Station)

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