A couple who siphoned off hundreds of millions of won in assets to avoid paying damages from a fatal traffic accident about 30 years ago was caught through a supplemental investigation by prosecutors.
The Criminal Division 1 of the Masan Branch of the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office (led by Director General Bang Jun-seong) said on the 31st that it indicted a man in his 60s, identified as A, and a woman in her 50s, identified as B, without detention on charges of evading compulsory execution.
They are accused of diverting and concealing about 400 million won of A's income into an account under B's borrowed name to avoid the debt arising from a damages judgment handed down to A in 1996.
A was ordered to jointly pay about 100 million won in damages to the bereaved families under employer liability after an employee of A's company caused a fatal traffic accident while driving a vehicle. Nevertheless, A diverted income to B to avoid paying damages to the families and evaded responsibility for decades.
The bereaved families eventually filed a complaint with police last year, and an investigation began. However, police decided not to refer A and others for prosecution, citing that the five-year statute of limitations for the crime of evading compulsory execution had expired.
Prosecutors requested a supplemental investigation from police, saying the statute of limitations had not expired because A's acts of evading compulsory execution—such as recently diverting income to B—were ongoing. They then launched their own supplemental probe, uncovering the criminal facts by tracing the couple's accounts and obtaining confirmations from the tax office.
In the end, the couple confessed to the crime and, through a criminal mediation process, paid the bereaved families the full amount of the repayment.
A prosecution official said, "We closely reviewed the legal principles and thoroughly conducted our own supplemental investigation to identify the substance of the crime," adding, "We will continue to clearly establish the substantive truth to sternly crack down on crime and do our best to prevent wrongful victims."