At least 3 accomplices suspected in Paju cafe freezer death: report

Police suspect that at least three additional people were involved in the death of a woman whose frozen body was discovered last week inside a walk-in freezer at a cafe in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, local media reported.

According to news reports from MBC and KBS on Tuesday, the cafe owner, who has been arrested and was detained Friday in connection with the woman’s death, is believed to have been part of a scam ring that dealt in counterfeit department store gift certificates and converted them into cash.

Police believe the cafe owner lured the victim, who had come to the cafe on Sept. 3 to discuss a gift certificate transaction, to the freezer by telling her that the certificates were stored there.

The woman reportedly discovered that the certificates were fake, but it remains unclear what happened to her afterward, including whether she was killed inside the freezer or left there to die.

Her body was found inside near the freezer’s entrance. Counterfeit gift certificates with a combined face value of tens of billions of won were also discovered inside.

Investigators are looking into the extent of each person's involvement and whether the organization committed other crimes.

The freezer where the woman was found may have been installed recently in connection to the alleged scheme, according to the report.

During questioning, the cafe owner reportedly told police that the freezer had been built to prevent people from discovering that the certificates were fake. The extreme cold would make it difficult for potential buyers to remain inside long enough to inspect them carefully, he was quoted as saying.

The structure appears to have been installed recently. Images posted by a cafe visitor in April showed no structure at the site where the freezer now stands, MBC reported. In a separate report, Paju residents told Newsis that they had not seen the container there as recently as late August.