Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu who was indicted in the "Daejang-dong case," was sentenced to eight years in prison in a first-trial ruling on the 31st. Yoo Dong-gyu, the former Seongnam Development Corporation Deputy Minister who was indicted in the same case, was also sentenced to eight years. The first-trial ruling came four years after the two were indicted. Both were taken into custody in court.
The Daejang-dong case concerns allegations that during President Lee Jae-myung's tenure as Seongnam mayor, private operators including Kim Man-bae gained an illicit profit of 788.6 billion won in the Daejang-dong development process, while Seongnam Development Corporation incurred a loss of 489.5 billion won. Legally, charges including breach of duty were applied. President Lee was also indicted in this case and was undergoing a first trial, but the trial has been suspended since the last presidential election.
The Criminal Division 22 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Cho Hyeong-woo) opened a sentencing hearing for five defendants in the breach of duty case, including Hwacheon Daeyu major shareholder Kim Man-bae, Yoo Dong-gyu, former Seongnam Development Corporation planning Deputy Minister, attorneys Nam Uk and Jeong Min-yong, and accountant Jeong Young-hak, starting at 2 p.m. that day, and sentenced Kim to eight years in prison and a forfeiture of 42.8016505 billion won. Yoo was sentenced to eight years in prison, a fine of 400 million won, and a forfeiture of 81 million won.
In addition, attorney Nam was sentenced to four years in prison; accountant Jeong to five years; and attorney Jeong to six years, a fine of 3.8 billion won, and a forfeiture of 3.722 billion won. They were also all taken into custody in court.
The court said, "This case is a series of corruption crimes carried out in collusion by public officials, including the former Deputy Minister Yoo, and private operators such as Kim," adding, "They formed a collusive relationship from the early stages of the Daejang-dong development project and ultimately designated the private operators as project implementers, monopolizing the enormous profits that should have gone to the public, including local residents." It added, "The defendants' occupations are journalist, attorney, and accountant, indicating they likely possessed sufficient legal literacy, yet they committed serious crimes without hesitation, showing poor culpability."
All five defendants commonly faced charges of breach of duty in the course of business and violations of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act. The court found only the breach of duty charge guilty and acquitted them on the charge of violating the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act.
On the reason for finding guilt on the breach of duty charge, the court said, "As a result of the defendants' collusion, Seongnam Development Corporation received only 183 billion won of the 672.5 billion won in dividends it should have secured through the Daejang-dong development project," adding, "The remaining 489.5 billion won became a property loss to the corporation, and this amount was used for the defendants to obtain property gains."