Jeon Jun-kyung, former deputy head of the Democratic Research Institute, who is accused of receiving more than 800 million won in cash and other valuables from developers involved in the Baekhyeon-dong project, was sentenced on appeal to three years in prison, an increased term.
The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Yoon Sung-sik) on the 5th handed down the sentence to the former deputy head Jeon, who was indicted on charges of bribery and brokerage in violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. Jeon served as a nonstanding member of the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) from 2015 to 2018, head of the Yongin Municipal Policy Research Institute in 2020, and deputy head of the Democratic Party of Korea think tank Democratic Research Institute in 2021.
In the first trial, the court had sentenced Jeon to two years and six months in prison, a fine of 52 million won, and forfeiture of 808 million won. The prison term has increased.
The bench said, "The defendant claims to have continuously provided consulting, but it is highly questionable whether the consulting provided to several companies could add up to 800 million won," and added, "It can only be seen that the defendant received such compensation by using his position." The first trial court also did not accept the argument of the former deputy head Jeon that he only received consulting fees for legitimate consulting and did not receive money or valuables related to his duties.
Jeon was brought to trial on charges of receiving a total of a little over 780 million won and using a Genesis sedan from seven companies from July 2015 to March last year in the name of brokering Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) grievance petitions and local government permits and approvals. Of this, a little over 100 million won and the sedan were found to have been provided by the former chairman of Paul Asia Developer, who is connected to the Baekhyeon-dong development corruption.
There is also a charge that in January through July 2017, in connection with his duties as a nonstanding member of the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), including decisions on grievance petitions, he pocketed 26 million won in bribes.