The son of the de facto owner of LCT, the developer of the large mixed-use residential complex in Busan, was sentenced at first instance to 12 years in prison on charges of embezzling 3.2 billion won under the pretext of soliciting a Supreme Court justice.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 34 (Presiding Judge Han Sung-jin, senior judge) on the 29th sentenced a person surnamed Lee, who was indicted on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to 12 years in prison. Lee is the son of Lee Young-bok, chairman of Cheongan Construction and the de facto owner of LCT's developer.
A person surnamed Kim, who was indicted along with Lee, was sentenced to eight years in prison. The court found all charges guilty, judging that they intended to deceive the victim and seize a large sum of money.
The court said, "This case risks causing the public to lose trust in the judiciary," and added, "The nature of the crime is very poor, and severe punishment is necessary."
The victim ran a cryptocurrency service company in 2022 and lost in the first trial of an injunction lawsuit to prohibit interference related to coin issuance. Lee and Kim approached the victim saying they would win on appeal and were indicted in January on charges of seizing 3 billion won.
Prosecutors believe they emphasized to the victim that Lee is the son of Chairman Lee and said, "We will use a Supreme Court justice to lobby the judge in charge of the victim's case." Lee also faced charges of receiving an additional 200 million won from the victim, saying he needed to lobby a high school classmate who graduated from the same high school as the judge.
Separately from this case, Lee was also indicted on charges of borrowing 3.2 billion won in June 2020 by deceiving the victim with promises such as "We will grant an exclusive LCT sales agency contract" and failing to repay it. In that case, a suspended sentence was handed down on appeal in July last year, and the ruling became final because both the prosecutor and Lee did not file an appeal.