Ten years of exploitation and five years of legal battles have finally come to an end. Broadcaster Park Soo-hong's older brother, surnamed Park, who was on trial for embezzling billions of won in appearance fees and agency funds, could not avoid a prison sentence.
On Feb. 26 the Supreme Court, 1st Division (Presiding Justice Shin Sook-hee) dismissed the appeal and upheld the second-instance court that sentenced Park to three years and six months in prison on charges of embezzlement under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. Accordingly, Park's wife, Ms. Lee, who is Park Soo-hong's sister-in-law, also had the second-instance sentence of one year in prison with two years of probation upheld.
The long-running trial has finally concluded. It has already been five years since Park Soo-hong filed a complaint against his older brother and sister-in-law in April 2021.
Earlier, in Oct. 2022 Park was indicted on charges that from 2011 to 2021, while managing his younger brother Park Soo-hong's management, he spent part of his appearance fees and company funds for personal use such as his apartment maintenance fees and lawyer fees, and embezzled Park Soo-hong's personal assets. His wife, Ms. Lee, was also noncustodially charged for participating in some embezzlement, including privately using the agency's corporate card.
At the time, the older brother and his wife were reported to have embezzled about 6.17 billion won from Park Soo-hong's appearance fees and agency funds, but during the first trial the prosecution revised the total embezzled amount to about 4.8 billion won after excluding duplicate entries.
Park Soo-hong appeared in court as a witness and said he felt that much of what he had worked hard for in his youth had been taken away. He said he had tried to correct things but could not, adding that he would testify well so that the trial result could bring hope to many people who, like him, trusted and extended goodwill to those close to them and became victims.
At the trial Park Soo-hong also cried out in anger, saying that although his brother managed his money, 100% of the profits were his. He said his brother received more pay and that all assets were in his brother's and sister-in-law's names.
The first-instance court found Park guilty of embezzling 2 billion won in company funds and sentenced him to two years in prison, but it also found him guilty of diverting 1.6 billion won of Park Soo-hong's personal funds. The sister-in-law, Ms. Lee, was acquitted due to lack of evidence of complicity.
After both sides appealed the first-instance result to the second instance, Park Soo-hong changed his legal representative to the law firm Shin & Kim LLC and more meticulously analyzed the corporate card usage records of Park and his wife. As a result, circumstances showing that the corporate card had been privately used under the guise of living expenses—such as for children's education, amusement parks, kids' cafes and fitness center memberships—were revealed and recognized. Accordingly, at the second instance Park's sentence was significantly increased to three years and six months and he was taken into custody.
The second-instance court acquitted Park of the charge that he personally used his brother's personal funds, but it judged the fact that the victim corporation was a family company to be a special aggravating factor. The court at the time criticized that as a family company it had a weak internal oversight system and that Park abused the trust of his brother Park Soo-hong, saying the actions caused material and mental harm to the real victim.
As a result, not only Park but also his wife, Ms. Lee, had her first-instance acquittal overturned and was found guilty of privately using 26 million won of corporate card funds, receiving a sentence of one year in prison with two years of probation and being ordered to perform 120 hours of community service.
When the sentence increased at the second instance, Park's side appealed, arguing the sentence was excessive and that Ms. Lee did not intervene in the corporate operations of Park Soo-hong's agency so the crime of breach of trust did not apply. However, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, ruling that for Park the appeal reason was improper because it only claimed excessive sentencing in a case where the penalty was less than 10 years, and for Ms. Lee it affirmed the lower court's ruling, saying there was no lack of sufficient examination or misinterpretation of the law regarding establishment of the crime of breach of trust.
With the Supreme Court decision completed, attention now turns to the civil damages lawsuit seeking 19.8 billion won. In July 2021 Park Soo-hong filed a suit seeking approximately 11.6 billion won in damages against his older brother and sister-in-law, and later submitted a petition to change the plaintiff's claim and grounds to 19.8 billion won after confirming additional damages.
By dismissing the appeal the Supreme Court sided with the second-instance court, and attention is focusing on what outcome the civil damages lawsuit will produce.<
[Photo] OSEN DB
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