【Holding】
[1] Meaning of the system of unjust enrichment, and whether the obligation to return may be imposed on a beneficiary where the benefit was not substantially attributed to the beneficiary (negative) / Whether, in order to find that a principal has been enriched by money remitted to the principal's financial account by a victim deceived by a person who falsely claimed to be an agent without having been granted the authority of agency, circumstances must be recognized sufficient to find that the principal reached a state in which it could de facto control the remitted money and thus became the substantial beneficiary (affirmative)
[2] In a case where A company, a financial company engaged in the real estate trust business, concluded a fund management agreement with B company, etc., the developer of a hotel construction project, under which A company agreed to keep the money raised by B company, etc. in a fund management account in A company's name and to disburse the funds at the request of B company, etc.; C, an employee of A company, was in charge of attracting and managing trust funds under the above fund management agreement; B company, experiencing difficulty in raising project funds, deceived D by stating to the effect that "if you deposit money in the fund management account, we will merely keep it for purposes such as proof of balance and then return it together with high interest," although B company in fact intended to withdraw the deposit once made and use it for the project; C, who had agreed to cooperate in B company's crime, claimed to be an agent of A company, concluded a fund management agreement with D in the name of A company, received the money remitted from D to A company's account, and transferred all of it to accounts designated by B company, etc.; and thereafter, when D failed to recover the above deposit, D sought from A company the return of unjust enrichment equivalent to the deposit, the Court held that, in light of all the circumstances, it was difficult to regard A company as having controlled or being in a position to control the above deposit, and thus it could not be found that A company obtained a benefit equivalent to the deposit without any legal ground and that D thereby suffered a loss of the same amount
【Summary of Decision】
[1] The system of unjust enrichment imposes on a beneficiary the obligation to return the benefit, based on the ideals of fairness and justice, where the beneficiary's property benefit lacks a legal ground; where no benefit has been substantially attributed to the beneficiary, the obligation to return cannot be imposed. Therefore, in order to find that a principal has been enriched by money remitted to the principal's financial account by a victim deceived by a person who falsely claimed to be an agent without having been granted the authority of agency, circumstances must be recognized sufficient to find, in light of the circumstances of the remittance, withdrawal, etc., that the principal reached a state in which it could de facto control the remitted money and thus became the substantial beneficiary.
[2] In a case where A company, a financial company engaged in the real estate trust business, concluded a fund management agreement with B company, etc., the developer of a hotel construction project, under which A company agreed to keep the money raised by B company, etc. in a fund management account in A company's name and to disburse the funds at the request of B company, etc.; C, an employee of A company, was in charge of attracting and managing trust funds under the above fund management agreement; B company, experiencing difficulty in raising project funds, deceived D by stating to the effect that "if you deposit money in the fund management account, we will merely keep it for purposes such as proof of balance and then return it together with high interest," although B company in fact intended to withdraw the deposit once made and use it for the project; C, who had agreed to cooperate in B company's crime, claimed to be an agent of A company, concluded a fund management agreement with D in the name of A company, received the money remitted from D to A company's account, and transferred all of it to accounts designated by B company, etc.; and thereafter, when D failed to recover the above deposit, D sought from A company the return of unjust enrichment equivalent to the deposit, the Court held as follows: considering comprehensively that, under the fund management agreement between A company and B company, etc., although the fund management account was in A company's name, A company merely disbursed the money raised by B company, etc. at the request of B company, etc., and could not under any circumstances create a pledge on or assign the fund management account to a third party, nor manage the deposited money by any separate means, so it is difficult to regard A company as having controlled or being in a position to control, under the agreement, the money kept in the account; and that, although the deposit from D was credited to the account in A company's name, it was immediately transferred, on the day of the deposit or within four days, to accounts designated by B company, etc. at the request of B company, etc. as provided in the fund management agreement between A company and B company, etc., so that the benefit was not substantially attributed to A company and can ultimately be said to have been attributed to the recipients designated by B company, etc., it cannot be found that A company obtained a benefit equivalent to the deposit without any legal ground and that D thereby suffered a loss of the same amount; nevertheless, the lower court, which held otherwise, erred in its misapprehension of legal principles.
【Referenced Statutes】
[1] Article 741 of the Civil Act [2] Article 741 of the Civil Act
【Referenced Precedents】
[1] Supreme Court Decision 2010Da37325, 37332, September 8, 2011 (Gong2011Ha, 2065)
(Source: Supreme Court Decision 2026Da202155, August 13, 2026 | Judicial Information Disclosure Portal, Supreme Court of Korea)
2026. 10. 26. · By Attorney Dongwoo Shin
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