A Supreme Court ruling on the older brother and his wife, accused of embezzling billions of won including appearance fees while running broadcaster Park Soo-hong's agency, will be issued on the 26th.
On the 14th according to legal sources, the Supreme Court's 1st Division (Ba) will hold the sentencing hearing on the 26th for Park Soo-hong's older brother and his wife on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement).
Earlier, Park Soo-hong filed a complaint in April 2021, saying he suffered financial damage while his older brother and his wife handled his management from 2011 to 2021. Prosecutors found that the older brother, Mr. Park, obtained Park Soo-hong's bankbook, resident registration card, seal, and digital certificate and used about 2.895 billion won arbitrarily over hundreds of times from 2011 to 2019, and that he embezzled 1.9 billion won by registering fake employees, and indicted him on charges and detained him.
Also, Park Soo-hong's older brother and his wife withdrew attorney fees incurred from this lawsuit from Park Soo-hong's appearance fee account, and as a result, the sister-in-law, Ms. Lee, was also indicted without detention on charges of partial involvement.
Accordingly, Park Soo-hong's older brother and his wife were prosecuted and are on trial on charges of embezzling about 6.2 billion won from Park Soo-hong's appearance fees and company funds while operating the talent agencies Lael and Media Boom for 10 years. The first trial court found them guilty regarding 2 billion won of company funds, found not guilty regarding 1.6 billion won embezzled from his younger brother, and sentenced him to two years in prison. Sister-in-law Ms. Lee was acquitted.
However, in the second trial the court sentenced Park Soo-hong's older brother, Mr. Park, to three years and six months in prison, and, judging that there was a risk of flight, issued an arrest warrant and remanded him. The sister-in-law, Ms. Lee, who had been acquitted in the first trial, was found partially guilty and sentenced to one year in prison, with a two-year suspended sentence and 120 hours of community service. Immediately after the ruling, the sister-in-law, Ms. Lee, left the courtroom in tears.
The court ruled, "This case involved family companies with weak internal oversight systems, exploiting the trust of Park Soo-hong, who is a sibling, and beyond infringing on the property interests of the victims who are the direct victims of embezzlement and breach of trust, it disrupted the tax order that should be upheld alongside the joint-stock company system. Furthermore, it resulted in considerable financial and psychological harm to the actual victim, Park Soo-hong."
It added, "Considering the heinous nature of the crime and the seriousness of the criminal consequences, severe punishment commensurate with the culpability is inevitable," and said, "As a result of tracing the flow of funds the defendant diverted from the victims through the crime, it appears that a substantial amount was used to acquire personal assets such as real estate in the names of Mr. and Mrs. Park."
The court also criticized, "Partial repayment of the victims cannot be accepted. Even if repayment is claimed, the source of the funds is entirely Park Soo-hong's income, so the actual victim of the embezzlement and breach of trust is Park Soo-hong," and said, "Mr. Park did not make any restitution to the actual victim, Park Soo-hong, up to the second trial, and it appears he made no particular effort to do so. Following the lower court, Park Soo-hong repeatedly petitioned for severe punishment against Mr. Park in the second trial as well."
The dispute that began with the April 2021 complaint against the older brother and his wife is expected to conclude this month after about five years of litigation. Attention is focused on what ruling the Supreme Court will make.
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]