| Rabbi Thona, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been sentenced to four years in prison for assault and fraud. Screen capture from MBN news |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Rabbi Thona, a refugee and television personality from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was put behind bars last year for running a prostitution scam among other offenses, according to media reports Wednesday.
Citing court sources, local broadcaster MBN reported on Thona's case which resulted in him receiving a four-year prison sentence last May for extorting a total of 20 million won ($18,400) from seven men.
According to the report, Thona and several other people worked together using a dating app to contact men who were looking to have sex with underage girls and offered to provide them with such services.
When a man arrived on the scene expecting to meet with an underage girl, Thona and his co-conspirators assaulted them and extorted money from them.
"We consider the offense to be extremely serious as it was repeated several times, and the injuries sustained by the assaulted individuals were very severe," the court was quoted as saying by MBN.
Thona, who is currently serving his sentence, might face deportation when he is released.
"Refugees have their status reviewed every three years before an extension of their permit to stay in the country is granted," the Ministry of Justice told reporters. "After the sentence, Thona could be deported if he is considered to have disturbed public order."
Rabbi Thona is the son of human rights activist Yiombi Thona, who was born to a royal family of the Kitona tribe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Yiombi came to Korea in 2002 after fleeing his country for political reasons and his family followed him in 2008.
The family gained a high profile in Korea after appearing in a TV documentary series "Screening Humanity" in 2013. Since then, Rabbi and his brother Jonathan were dubbed the "Congo Princes," and appeared in several TV shows and on YouTube channels.