A court ruling on former Seongnam Development Corporation Deputy Minister Yoo Dong-gyu, Attorney Nam Wook, Accountant Jeong Young-hak, and others, who were brought to trial over alleged preferential treatment in the Wirye new town development, will come on the afternoon of the 28th.
Lee Chun-geun, Director General of Criminal Division 1, Seoul Central District Court, will deliver the first-instance verdict at 1:30 p.m. in Room 513 of the west building for Yoo, the former Deputy Minister, and others charged with violating the Anti-Corruption Act. It will be the first-instance conclusion about 3 years and 4 months after they were brought to trial in Sep. 2022.
At the sentencing hearing on Nov. 28 last year, prosecutors asked the court to sentence the former Deputy Minister Yoo to two years in prison. For Attorney Nam and Accountant Jeong, who were indicted together, prosecutors sought two years in prison and a forfeiture of about 1.4 billion won. For Jeong Jae-chang, a private businessman who was the major shareholder of Wirye Asset Management, prosecutors sought two years and six months in prison and a forfeiture of 1.4 billion won, and for Ju Ji-hyung, former Development Project Team 1 leader at Seongnam Development Corporation, one year in prison.
The Wirye new town development project is called a so-called "look-alike of Daejang-dong." That is because, like the Daejang-dong development, it proceeded as a public-private joint venture. Prosecutors suspect that in Nov. 2013, when publicly recruiting a private operator to participate in the Wirye new town development, the former Deputy Minister Yoo and others gave preferential treatment by adjusting screening criteria to favor Wirye Asset Management.
According to prosecutors, the Wirye new town development project, which ran from Aug. 2014 to Mar. 2017, generated a total implementation profit of 41.8 billion won, of which 4.23 billion won went to the private operator and 16.9 billion won went to Hoban Construction, it was found.
At the sentencing hearing, prosecutors said, "The defendants formed long-term collusive ties through money and valuables," and emphasized, "The review process was conducted unfairly, including setting evaluation criteria for developers, implementers, and operator selection, so stern punishment is necessary."
In the final statement, the former Deputy Minister Yoo said, "The Wirye new town development project was intended to build the achievements of President Lee Jae-myung, who was then the Seongnam mayor, and all responsibility lies with me, President Lee, and former chief of staff Jeong Jin-sang."