Broadcaster Park Soo-hong's older brother, surnamed Park, who was indicted on charges of embezzling tens of millions of won including appearance fees and agency funds, had his 3 years and 6 months prison term from the second trial finalized.
On the 26th, the Supreme Court's first division (Presiding Justice Shin Sook-hee) dismissed the appeal, upholding the second trial's sentence of 3 years and 6 months in prison for Park, who was tried on embezzlement charges under the Act on Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes. Accordingly, Park's wife, a person surnamed Lee, also had the second-trial ruling that had sentenced her to 1 year in prison with a 2-year suspended sentence finalized.
In October 2022, Park was prosecuted on charges that, while managing his younger brother Park Soo-hong's management from 2011 to 2021, he spent part of Park Soo-hong's appearance fees and company funds for personal purposes such as his apartment maintenance fees and attorney fees, and siphoned off Park Soo-hong's personal assets. Park's wife, a person surnamed Lee, was also noncustodially indicted on charges of participating in some embezzlement, including privately misusing the corporate card of Park Soo-hong's agency.
At the time of the initial indictment, it was reported that Park had embezzled about 6.17 billion won of Park Soo-hong's money over roughly 10 years. However, during the first trial, the prosecution revised the total embezzled amount to about 4.8 billion won after excluding duplicate items. The first trial court, however, found guilty only of embezzling 2 billion won in company funds. Accordingly, Park was sentenced to 2 years in prison, and a person surnamed Lee was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Subsequently, in the second trial, Park Soo-hong's legal representative changed to Shin & Kim LLC, and the legal team more closely analyzed the corporate card usage of Park and his wife. As a result, circumstances were revealed showing private use of the corporate card under the guise of household expenses, such as payments for children's education, amusement parks, kids' cafes, and fitness center memberships, which were recognized. Consequently, in the second trial Park's sentence was significantly increased to 3 years and 6 months and he was taken into custody.
In particular, the second trial court acquitted Park of the charge that he personally used his younger brother's personal funds, but judged that the fact the victim company was a family-owned firm constituted a special aggravating factor. The court criticized that it was an abuse of trust, saying, "As a family company, the victim companies' internal oversight systems are vulnerable, and the trust of Park Soo-hong, who is the brother, was exploited." Accordingly, not only Park but also his wife, a person surnamed Lee, had her first-trial acquittal overturned and was found guilty of privately using 26 million won on the corporate card, and was sentenced to 1 year in prison with a 2-year suspended sentence and ordered to perform 120 hours of community service.
Nevertheless, Park's side appealed, arguing the sentence was heavy and that Ms. Lee did not participate in the operation of Park Soo-hong's agency and therefore could not be guilty of breach of trust. However, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal regarding Park, saying it was an improper ground for appeal that argued only excessive sentencing in a case where the law provides for a term not exceeding 10 years. The court also upheld the prior ruling regarding Ms. Lee, stating there was no lack of consideration or legal error regarding the establishment of the breach of trust in the workplace.
[Photo] OSEN DB.
[OSEN]