Mission impossible: S. Koreans nabbed over embassy scam

Three South Koreans have been arrested for allegedly trying to sell the site of the Indonesian embassy and pocketing $1.7 million from would-be investors, police said Wednesday.
 
They said the trio told investors in 2009 that the mission in Seoul's posh financial district would soon relocate and the site would be developed for commerce.
 
One of the three, identified as Kwon and married to an Indonesian woman, in January even brought nine of his in-laws and acquaintances to Seoul to pose as Jakarta officials.
 
The Indonesians, including Kwon's wife, brother-in-law and even her driver, held "business presentations" for investors.
 
"They even made fake documents that appeared to be signed by the deputy director of the Indonesian foreign ministry's legal and treaty department, to gain the trust of investors," police said in a statement.
 
The three collected two billion won ($1.7 million) from seven investors, promising them a return of 130 billion won. The embassy in fact had no plans to relocate.
 
The fraud was exposed when investors sent the documents, written in Bahasa Indonesia, to the South Korean embassy in Jakarta to check their authenticity.
 
Two of the suspects fled to Indonesia but were caught and sent back last week. The trio will likely face jail terms of at least three years, police said.

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