Korean couple face jail for faking death at sea

When Mr Seo drowned at sea, the grief of his widow, Ms Sohn, was immeasurable. It was three years ago when he rented a boat for a fishing trip off the South Korean town of Tongyoung. The boat was found drifting, but 35-year old Mr Seo was nowhere to be found.

At the funeral service, Ms Sohn fainted; the mourners, family and friends were generous with the condolence money which they donated to the widow and her two young children. Twenty months after he was reported missing, the insurance companies began to pay out a total of 1.1 billion won (£600,000).

But Mr Seo was alive and well – and now he, and his wife, face charges of fraud in a case which resembles that of John Darwin, the former prison officer who faked his death in a bogus canoeing accident in 2002 after falling into debt. Mr Darwin and his wife, Anne, were jailed for fraud last year.

The South Korean couple were apprehended after Mr Seo, whose full name has not been released, drunkenly boasted off his escapade to a drinking companion, who reported it to the police.

According to police in Tongyoung, the couple hatched the plot after a café run by Mr Seo suffered financial difficulties. While sailing out of sight of shore, he climbed on a boat piloted by an accomplice who dropped him off in the nearby city of Pusan.

He had formerly worked in insurance and, when an appropriate period of time had elapsed, six companies paid out to his widow. For the next three years he moved from place to place while his wife settled his debts, invested in the financial markets and set up a construction company.

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