A suspect in the a large-scale scam of KT subscribers claimed on Thursday that he'd been acting on someone else's orders when executing the alleged fraud.

The man in his 40s, identified as Mr. A, appeared at the Suwon District Court around 10:30 a.m. ahead of his pretrial detention hearing.

When a reporter asked why the scam had targeted people in the Seoul metropolitan area, Mr. A responded, “I did what I was told to do.”

When asked who'd given him the orders, he said, “I don’t know,” and reiterated that he'd done what he was told.

Mr. A, a Chinese national, was taken into custody on Wednesday at Incheon International Airport shortly after arriving from China. Police caught another suspect in his 40s, identified as Mr. B, in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo District the same day. 

Both have been accused of hacking the mobile phones of KT subscribers and appropriating the devices to embezzle money.
  
Police say Mr. A carried small base station equipment in his car from the end of August to the beginning of this month, using it to execute the widespread hack of Seoul-based KT subscribers and purchase mobile gift certificates, which Mr. B then allegedly cashed out.

The court could rule on whether to hold the two suspects in pretrial detention as early as Thursday evening.