Accountant Jeong Yeong-hak and attorney Jeong Min-yong, who are on appeal over alleged "Daejang-dong development corruption," were released after the court granted bail. As a result, all five defendants facing the same charges will be tried without detention.
According to legal sources on the 31st, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 6-3 (High Court Judges Min Dal-gi, Kim Jong-woo and Park Jeong-je) granted the bail requests of Jeong the accountant and Jeong the attorney on the 7th.
Earlier, the Seoul Central District Court, which heard the first trial in the Daejang-dong development scandal, sentenced former Seongnam Development Corporation planning chief Yoo Dong-gyu and Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management major shareholder Kim Man-bae to eight years in prison each in Oct. last year. Attorney Nam Wook, who was tried alongside them, was sentenced to four years, Jeong the accountant to five years, and Jeong the attorney to six years.
Jeong the accountant and Jeong the attorney, who had been tried without detention, were taken into custody after being sentenced to prison terms. Their maximum detention period ran until June 30.
The court appears to have decided on bail on conditions such as "no contact with parties to the case," judging it would be difficult to complete the appellate hearing before their detention expired.
Earlier, former chief Yoo, Kim Man-bae and attorney Nam were released on the 30th of last month when their detention periods expired. With Jeong the accountant and Jeong the attorney also released on bail, all five defendants in the case will be tried without detention.
Former chief Yoo and four others are accused of drafting a collusion guideline to favor Hwacheon Daeyu in connection with the Daejang-dong development project. There are also allegations that by ensuring the Seongnam's Garden consortium, which included Hwacheon Daeyu, was selected as the preferred bidder, they caused 489.5 billion won in losses to the Seongnam Development Corporation.
Immediately after the first-trial verdict, all defendants filed appeals, but prosecutors did not appeal within the deadline. At the time, prosecutors said, "We decided not to appeal in light of the legal review results and the likelihood of an appeal being granted."
Accordingly, they are on appeal over the sentences for the parts found guilty in the first trial.