The trial of the elder brother couple of broadcaster Park Soo-hong, who are accused of embezzling his grants, has been postponed again.
On the 20th, the 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court postponed the appeal trial for Park Soo-hong's elder brother Park and sister-in-law Lee, who violated the Specific Economic Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act (embezzlement), to September 17. This is already the third postponement since the appeal trial resumed.
The elder brother couple of Park Soo-hong has been indicted and is on trial for embezzling about 6.2 billion won of Park's grants and company funds while operating the entertainment planning companies Rael and Media Boom from 2011 to 2021.
The lower court acknowledged the guilt for only 2 billion won of the company's funds out of about 6.2 billion won and judged that the embezzlement of 1.6 billion won of his younger brother's money was not guilty, sentencing Park to two years in prison. His sister-in-law was acquitted. However, both sides appealed the verdict, and amid this, Park Soo-hong appeared as a witness in the appeal trial and expressed his inner feelings.
At that time, he noted, "I apologize for the first instance ruling, but I thought it was very unfair, so I wanted to testify. I felt it was very unfair that their embezzlement was limited to company funds, while the personal fund embezzlement was judged as not guilty, and that my sister-in-law Lee was found not guilty without being related to the corporation."
In particular, Park Soo-hong added, "I have built everything over the past 30 years, but I felt a deep sense of regret and resentment when I saw that my assets could be misappropriated by them simply because it is a family company and that the original ruling deemed it not guilty."
The high court also expressed doubts about the asset differences between Park Soo-hong and the elder brother couple. During the sixth hearing held in June, the court raised questions, stating, "When we examine the asset formation results of Park Soo-hong and the Park couple, we do not see any significant increase in real estate acquisition or financial assets apart from ownership of 50% equity in the Magok commercial area."
It continued, "On the other hand, the Park couple has acquired four pieces of real estate, paid off the mortgage debts on existing properties, and seems to have increased their various insurance and financial assets." Along with this, the court requested a detailed account of the differences in the asset statuses of both sides.
Additionally, although nearly all income sources came from Park Soo-hong's entertainment activities, the court demanded an explanation for the differences in their asset formation based on that revenue. It also questioned whether it was reasonable to consider that the management of Park's personal accounts by his elder brother was appropriate.
Amid this, the trial scheduled for the 20th has been postponed to next month, and attention is drawn to what final ruling the appeal court will deliver regarding the elder brother couple.
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]