The court demanded a detailed explanation of the property formation process from the brother and sister-in-law of broadcaster Park Soo-hong, who have been indicted for embezzling his grants.
Today (13th), the 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court held the 6th hearing in the appeal trial of Park Soo-hong's elder brother, Mr. Park, and sister-in-law, Ms. Lee, charged with violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement). Both the elder couple and their respective lawyers attended the trial.
Park Soo-hong's elder brother and sister-in-law have been indicted for embezzling a total of approximately 6.2 billion won, managing entertainment agencies Rael and Media Boom from 2011 to 2021, which included funds from Park Soo-hong's grants and company money.
During the first trial, the court acknowledged only about 2 billion won of the embezzled company funds by Park Soo-hong's elder brother, determining that the 1.6 billion won he personally used from Park Soo-hong's personal account was not guilty. Consequently, the court sentenced Mr. Park to two years in prison while acquitting Ms. Lee, citing difficulties in proving her complicity. Both sides appealed.
This trial was postponed once due to a request to extend the submission deadline for the expert evaluation report. Therefore, an expert was scheduled to analyze the flow of the embezzled funds, but the court stated, "It is difficult to entrust the evaluation to an expert in this situation."
The court said, "We will reach a conclusion based on the results presented by both sides. Regarding the management of Park Soo-hong's personal account by the elder couple, we request both sides to explain it. "
Furthermore, referring to the financial situation of both sides, the court requested clarification, stating, "Looking at the property formation results of Park Soo-hong and Mr. Park's couple, apart from a 50% stake in Magok commercial building, there seems to be little increase in real estate acquisition or financial assets for Park Soo-hong," adding that "the Park couple acquired four properties and repaid existing debts on properties, taking out several insurances, showing some increase in financial assets."
It also demanded an explanation regarding the reason for the differing degrees of property formation between the two sides despite the fact that Park Soo-hong's revenue source was mainly from his entertainment activities and whether the management of Park Soo-hong's personal account by his elder brother was deemed to be for legitimate purposes.
Meanwhile, the 7th hearing for the embezzlement charges against Park Soo-hong's elder brother and sister-in-law is scheduled to take place on August 20.
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]