A person surnamed Park, the older brother of TV personality Park Soo-hong, who embezzled tens of billions of won including funds from Park's entertainment agency, received a final sentence of three years and six months in prison at the Supreme Court. Park's wife, a person surnamed Lee, also received a final sentence of one year in prison, suspended for two years.
The Supreme Court's First Division (presiding Justice Shin Sook-hee) on the 26th upheld the lower court's ruling imposing these sentences in the verdict hearing for Park Soo-hong's older brother and his wife, who were indicted on embezzlement charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
They were indicted in Oct. 2022 on charges of siphoning off Park Soo-hong's personal funds and company money while running an entertainment agency for 10 years starting in 2011.
Park, the older brother of Park Soo-hong, used the corporate card at will for purposes unrelated to running the corporation. The expense for hiring a personal attorney and the intermediate payment for a commercial unit he personally purchased were also paid with corporate funds. He also listed people who did not actually work as employees and received salaries from the corporation for his own use.
Lee, Park's sister-in-law and wife, also committed the crimes together, including using the corporate card at will.
In the first trial, the court sentenced the older brother, Park, to two years in prison and acquitted the sister-in-law, Lee. The first trial court found him guilty of embezzling 2 billion won in company funds belonging to Park Soo-hong, while finding him not guilty of the charge that he took 1.6 billion won of Park's money.
In the second trial, the court sentenced the older brother, Park, to three years and six months in prison and took him into custody in court. For the sister-in-law, Lee, it recognized occupational breach of trust, sentencing her to one year and six months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered 120 hours of community service.
The appellate court said, "Park Soo-hong is petitioning for a heavy punishment," and, "The method of the crime falls into a very egregious category, which we reflect as a special aggravating factor," explaining why it increased the sentence from the first trial.
The older brother, Park, appealed, saying "the sentence imposed is too heavy," and the wife, Lee, appealed, saying "I did not intervene in the operation of the corporation related to Park Soo-hong and did not use the corporate card."
The Supreme Court dismissed all of the defendants' appeals. Regarding Park, it found the appeal improper, as it only argued sentencing unfairness in a case where a sentence of 10 years or less was imposed. Regarding the wife, Lee, it said the lower court did not misunderstand the legal principles on the establishment of the crime of occupational breach of trust.
During the trial, Park Soo-hong's side said, "Because of the defendants' criminal acts, the 30 years of youth that Park built with blood and sweat were denied, and his ties with his parents and siblings were severed," and, "He could only experience the ordinary happiness of marrying the person he loves and having a child after turning 50."