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A magistrate has dismissed all charges against a computer repair “geek” who last year returned more than $363,000 to an elderly Canberra woman he had been accused of defrauding. Prosecutors told the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning they would no longer seek to offer evidence against Byung Uk Cho, who had pleaded not guilty to 27 fraud charges. The 27-year-old man, from South Korea, spent nearly two months behind bars in the Alexander Maconochie Centre after being arrested at Sydney Airport in October and extradited to the ACT. In documents previously tendered to the court, police said an 89-year-old Yarralumla woman had received more than $1.2 million in 2017 following the death of her husband. She then met Mr Cho in May 2019, when he visited her home to service her computer as part of his job with Geeks2U. Police alleged that during the course of his work, Mr Cho gained access to the woman’s online banking and began transferring himself large sums of money. He was accused of deceptively taking $363,020 over a period of nearly eight months, with the matter reported to police when the woman’s cousin noticed “suspicious” transactions. Mr Cho did not deny that he had ended up in possession of the money, but his barrister Peter Berg told the court last year that there was nothing illegal about what had happened. Mr Berg said his client had befriended the elderly woman and was helping her make investments in South Korean real estate. He told the court Mr Cho’s lack of proficiency in English must have led to “an unfortunate misunderstanding” about this purported arrangement. The South Korean was granted bail in late November after returning all of the money to the elderly woman via police. After prosecutors said on Wednesday that they would offer no evidence against the 27-year-old, Magistrate Glenn Theakston dismissed all the charges. What will now become of Mr Cho is unclear, with the court having previously heard his working visa had expired while he was on remand. It appears likely he will return to South Korea, with the court having also heard he was trying to go back to his homeland to begin mandatory military service when he was arrested at the airport. Another man, James Lawrence Michael Raftery, has been charged with defrauding the same elderly woman Mr Cho was accused of swindling. Mr Raftery, who is accused of deceptively obtaining nearly $280,000 from the woman, is yet to enter pleas to 22 fraud charges. He and Mr Cho were not charged as co-defendants.
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A magistrate has dismissed all charges against a computer repair “geek” who last year returned more than $363,000 to an elderly Canberra woman he had been accused of defrauding.
Prosecutors told the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning they would no longer seek to offer evidence against Byung Uk Cho, who had pleaded not guilty to 27 fraud charges.
In documents previously tendered to the court, police said an 89-year-old Yarralumla woman had received more than $1.2 million in 2017 following the death of her husband.
She then met Mr Cho in May 2019, when he visited her home to service her computer as part of his job with Geeks2U.
Police alleged that during the course of his work, Mr Cho gained access to the woman’s online banking and began transferring himself large sums of money.
He was accused of deceptively taking $363,020 over a period of nearly eight months, with the matter reported to police when the woman’s cousin noticed “suspicious” transactions.
Mr Cho did not deny that he had ended up in possession of the money, but his barrister Peter Berg told the court last year that there was nothing illegal about what had happened.
He told the court Mr Cho’s lack of proficiency in English must have led to “an unfortunate misunderstanding” about this purported arrangement.
After prosecutors said on Wednesday that they would offer no evidence against the 27-year-old, Magistrate Glenn Theakston dismissed all the charges.
What will now become of Mr Cho is unclear, with the court having previously heard his working visa had expired while he was on remand.
It appears likely he will return to South Korea, with the court having also heard he was trying to go back to his homeland to begin mandatory military service when he was arrested at the airport.
James Raftery, who has been charged with defrauding the same elderly woman. Picture: Blake Foden
Mr Raftery, who is accused of deceptively obtaining nearly $280,000 from the woman, is yet to enter pleas to 22 fraud charges.
He and Mr Cho were not charged as co-defendants.
