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High reported severity Criminal Charges

Busan prosecutors say an investment-fraud suspect used AI images of a fake medical licence and asset records to take 320 million won, then fooled a judge

The Busan Eastern District branch of the prosecutors' office in South Korea announced on 11 February 2026 that it had indicted a man under detention on 6 February for fraud, forging and using private documents, and obstructing official duties by deception. According to the prosecutors, from August to October 2025 he used AI to make fake images of a medical licensing examination certificate and of cryptocurrency holdings, posed as a doctor and businessman with billions of won in assets, and took about 320 million won from victims for supposed cryptocurrency, cruise-ship and medical-centre investments. When police sought his arrest in December 2025, he gave the warrant judge a bank balance certificate showing about 904 million won, which prosecutors say he made by uploading his real certificate to an AI platform and asking it to change the balance; his real balance was 23 won. The judge refused the warrant. Prosecutors later found the certificate was forged and obtained a new warrant. The accused and the victims are not named here.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
Aug 2025
Reported
11 February 2026
Event location
South Korea
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Financial Loss
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Finance · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account
4 claims: 4 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 1 person

AI system as recorded: Unnamed AI platform whose image-generation function, according to the Busan Eastern District prosecutors, the suspect used to make fake images of a medical licensing examination certificate and cryptocurrency holdings, and later to alter an uploaded bank balance certificate PDF

What Happened

The investment fraud. According to the prosecutors' announcement as reported by Chosunbiz, Korea JoongAng Daily and Donga Ilbo, the suspect used AI from August to October 2025 to make fake images, including a certificate of passing the national medical licensing examination and records of cryptocurrency holdings, and presented himself as a doctor and businessman with billions of won in assets. He took about 320 million won from victims for supposed investments in cryptocurrency, a cruise-ship business and setting up a medical centre. Korea JoongAng Daily reports that he also presented similarly forged documents to the judge, the prosecutor and the victims.

The forged balance certificate. Busan Suyeong police applied for an arrest warrant on fraud charges on 18 December 2025. At the warrant hearing he gave the judge a bank balance certificate showing 904,330,158 won and promised to repay the losses by 30 December, and the judge refused the warrant on 24 December. Prosecutors say he made the certificate by uploading his real balance certificate PDF to an AI platform and instructing it to change the balance figure; the real balance was 23 won. Police sent the case to prosecutors without detention on 19 January 2026.

The prosecutors' findings. Because the losses were not repaid, prosecutors began a supplementary investigation, checked the certificate against the bank's verification service, found it did not match the real account and identified four further document forgeries. They indicted him under detention on 6 February 2026. A prosecution official said he had used AI's image-generation function to forge material so precise it was hard to tell apart with the naked eye, deceiving members of the public and the judge.

What is not established. The AI platform is not named. The number of victims and how each payment relates to the AI-made images are not reported. The charges are the prosecutors' allegations and no court has ruled on them.

Reported harm

According to Busan prosecutors, victims handed about 320 million won to a man who posed as a wealthy doctor using AI-made images of a medical licence certificate and cryptocurrency holdings; the money had not been repaid.

Outcome

Ongoing

Indicted under detention on 6 February 2026 for fraud, forging and using private documents, and obstructing official duties by deception, after an earlier arrest warrant was refused on 24 December 2025 on the strength of the forged balance certificate.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI platform was used.
  • How many victims there were and how each payment relates to the AI-made images.
  • The victims' own accounts.
  • The outcome of the trial.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Busan Eastern District prosecutors, who examined the documents, say the suspect used an AI platform's image-generation function to make fake images of a national medical licensing examination certificate and cryptocurrency holdings, used them to pose as a wealthy doctor and businessman, and showed forged documents to the victims, who paid about 320 million won. The generated images impersonated documents of the examination authority and asset records toward the victims (depicted_or_impersonated). Prosecutors also describe how a bank balance certificate was altered by uploading the real PDF and instructing the platform to change the balance. How each payment relates to the images is not reported.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Prosecutors say that from August to October 2025 the suspect used AI to make fake images of a medical licensing examination certificate and cryptocurrency holdings, posed as a wealthy doctor and businessman, and took about 320 million won from victims for supposed investments.

Causal attribution. Prosecutors' allegation in an indictment; no court finding.

  • biz.chosun.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    'AI를 이용해 의사국가시험 합격증과 가상화폐 보유 내역 등 가짜 이미지를 만들어 수십억원의 자산을 보유한 의사 겸 사업가 행세를 했다'; '가상화폐 투자, 크루즈선박 사업 투자, 메디컬센터 설립 비용 명목으로 피해자들에게 3억2000만원을 가로챘다'
  • koreajoongangdaily.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The suspect is accused of using AI to create fake images, such as a medical license and cryptocurrency holding statements, to lure investors from August to October last year.'
  • donga.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '지난해 8월부터 10월까지 가상화폐 투자, 메디컬센터 설립 등의 명목으로 피해자를 속여 3억2000만 원을 가로챈 혐의를 받는다'
Reported At the December 2025 warrant hearing the suspect gave the judge a bank balance certificate showing 904,330,158 won and promised to repay, and the judge refused the warrant on 24 December.

Causal attribution. Prosecutors' account of the warrant hearing as reported.

  • biz.chosun.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '그런데 판사는 같은 달 24일 구속영장 청구를 기각했다'; '계좌 잔액이 '904,330,158원'으로 적혀 있는 예금잔고증명서를 제출하면서 같은 달 30일까지 피해액을 변제하겠다고 약속했기 때문이다'
  • donga.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '잔고증명서가 진짜라고 본 재판부는'
Reported Prosecutors say he made the certificate by uploading his real balance certificate PDF to an AI platform and instructing it to change the balance, and that the real balance was 23 won.

Causal attribution. Prosecutors' findings from their supplementary investigation.

Reported Prosecutors indicted the suspect under detention on 6 February 2026 for fraud, forging and using private documents, and obstructing official duties by deception, and a prosecution official said the AI-made material deceived the public and the judge.

Causal attribution. Prosecutors' announcement; the charges are allegations.

  • biz.chosun.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '지난 6일 투자금 명목 등으로 약 3억2000만원을 가로채고'; '사기, 사문서위조 및 위조사문서 행사, 위계공무집행방해 혐의로 구속기소했다고 11일 밝혔다'; 'AI의 이미지 생성 기능을 이용해 육안으로 식별이 곤란할 정도로 정밀한 자료를 위조해 일반인은 물론 판사까지 속였다'
  • koreajoongangdaily.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The defendant submitted fake AI-generated images that were nearly impossible to distinguish with the naked eye, and even deceived the judge'

Sources

3 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Korean by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-13 and translated by that agent; no human translation. Chosunbiz, 11 Feb 2026, HTTP 200; report of the prosecutors' announcement, with the prosecutors' description of the AI platform instruction. Applies to s1.

English-language report, HTTP 200; the outlet states it was translated from its Korean original by a bilingual reporter using generative AI tools and edited by its newsroom. Applies to s2.

Read in Korean by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-13 and translated by that agent; no human translation. Donga Ilbo, 11 Feb 2026, HTTP 200; report of the same announcement. Applies to s3.

Event countries: South Korea. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: South Korea.

The case was investigated by Busan Suyeong police and indicted by the Busan Eastern District prosecutors, and the warrant hearing was before a Korean court; the fraud is described within that Korean investigation. The victims' countries are not stated, so affected_person_countries is left empty.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-13: Published as a core impersonation case: Busan prosecutors, who examined the documents, say an investment-fraud suspect used an AI platform's image generation to fake a medical licensing certificate and cryptocurrency holdings, posed as a wealthy doctor and took about 320 million won from victims, and later deceived a warrant judge with an AI-altered balance certificate. The charges are allegations and the record attributes them. The accused and the victims are not named.

People described

Investors who paid money for supposed cryptocurrency, cruise-ship and medical-centre investments; their number and identities are not reported.

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

At least one person harmed: prosecutors describe victims who handed over about 320 million won. Chosunbiz uses a plural for the victims, which is not an explicit count, so only one is counted. The victims did not use the AI tool and are counted as other people harmed.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#investment-fraud#forged-document#ai-generated-image#fake-medical-licence#south-korea#financial-loss#prosecution

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Busan prosecutors say an investment-fraud suspect used AI images of a fake medical licence and asset records to take 320 million won, then fooled a judge. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-busan-prosecutors-say-investment-fraud-suspect-used-ai-forged-medical-licence-and-bank-statements

BibTeX

@misc{2025_busan_prosecutors_say_investment_fraud_suspect_used_ai_forged_medical_licence_and_bank_statements,
  title = {Busan prosecutors say an investment-fraud suspect used AI images of a fake medical licence and asset records to take 320 million won, then fooled a judge},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-busan-prosecutors-say-investment-fraud-suspect-used-ai-forged-medical-licence-and-bank-statements}
}

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