The Supreme Court ruled that the case, in which a monk passed away at a temple in Seoul and the account manager transferred a large sum to the new monk, constituted embezzlement.
On the 18th, according to the legal community, the Supreme Court's third division (Chief Justice Roh Kyung-pil) overturned the lower court's acquittal of Mr. A, who was charged with embezzlement and forgery of private documents, and sent the case back to the Seoul Northern District Court.
Mr. A is accused of withdrawing 250 million won from the personal account of the late monk Mr. B without the consent of the heirs when Mr. B died from COVID-19 in March 2022 and delivering it to the new monk Mr. C.
The heir Mr. D demanded the return of the remaining amount excluding funeral expenses, but Mr. C did not comply and kept the funds in his account, transferring only a portion to the temple's account after a lawsuit was filed.
The first trial considered the money in Mr. B's account to be personal property and sentenced both individuals to probation. However, the second trial recognized Mr. A's innocence regarding the embezzlement charge.
The Supreme Court noted, "Mr. A was in a position to retain the money for the heirs according to principles of trust and good faith even after the death of the monk," and concluded that the lower court had misunderstood the legal principles concerning the establishment of embezzlement.