Jeon Cheong Jo, 27-year-old ex-fiancé of the South Korean Olympic medalist Nam Hyun Hee was under arrest on Oct. 31 for fraud and attempted fraud.
In July, Nam Hyun Hee, 42-year-old Olympian publicly revealed her divorce from her husband who she had been married to for 11 years with a child. Simultaneously, she announced her new relationship with her boyfriend Jeon Cheong Jo.
On Oct. 23, her remarriage with her new fiancé was publicly reported. The public was shocked at the background of her new fiancé. It was reported that he was a 27-year-old businessman who claimed that he was a son of the chairman of Paradise Hotel and Casino Group. Jeon introduced him as a former equestrian who retired due to injury and majored in horse riding at NYU.
However, these were revealed all as lies when the couple’s wedding photos were exposed to the public. It came to light that Jeon was actually legally female. Neighbors and classmates disclosed her past, reporting that Jeon never became an equestrian nor went to NYU. Furthermore, there was no relation between Jeon and the Paradise Hotel and Casino Group. The company even denied their relation with Jeon saying that the baseless claims are severely detrimental to the company’s image and reputation.
More evidence ensued. It was revealed that Jeon had previously been sentenced to two years and three months in prison for swindling money. Additionally Jeon was also using Nam’s name value to commit fraud to multiple victims who trusted the well respected Olympian for large sums of money. Nam finally broke ties with Jeon; however, Jeon was detained for stalking when he repeatedly rang the doorbell in front of Nam’s home asking to be let in.
The public was shocked by how sloppy the fraud was, yet Nam and other victims fell for it so quickly. Although Nam has claimed her innocence saying that she did not know where the money was coming from, one of Jeon’s victims appealed that Nam was an accomplice in the fraud. Nam has often boasted about how rich her fiancé is and his family ties. However, it is still not certain whether Nam is an accomplice in the fraud or one of the victims.
“I feel like from a third person perspective, I can look at this issue more objectively: no one here is honestly the victim or the perpetuator, both of them are in the wrong,” Ashely Croft (10), frequent news watcher said. “Honestly, it’s quite pathetic and cynical of them to do such things, because what were they thinking, trying to scam someone into a lifelong relationship. I wonder, did they truly think they could get away with the lies forever?”
