Yoo Si-chun, former chair of the Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS), who was put on trial on charges of using a corporate card for personal purposes, was acquitted in the first trial.
On the 12th, Judge Choi Dong-hwan of the Uijeongbu District Court Goyang Branch, Criminal Division 6 Single Judge, acquitted Yoo, who had been indicted without detention on charges of occupational breach of trust.
Judge Choi determined that even if some corporate card transactions appeared suspicious, there was insufficient evidence to conclude they were personal use. The reasoning was that it is difficult to deem the spending unrelated to work based solely on the fact that the card was used near the residence or at a distance, or that groceries or flowers were purchased.
In addition, the judge viewed that even if the guidelines for the use of business operation expenses were violated, the issue of recovery within EBS should be determined separately from whether the criminal offense of occupational breach of trust is established.
Yoo was indicted on charges of using a corporate card 230 times over about five years from Oct. 2018 to Nov. 2023 to privately spend approximately 19.6 million won in business operation expenses. At the closing hearing last month, prosecutors sought a one-year prison sentence for Yoo.
During the trial, Yoo denied the charges, saying the corporate card was used to perform duties and not for personal purposes.
Earlier, in Mar. 2024, the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) investigated allegations that Yoo improperly used business operation expenses and violated the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, then referred the matter to the Korea Communications Commission and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. At the time, the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) determined, based on facts such as the use of business operation expenses at a butcher shop, department store, and side dish shop, that there was a possibility of causing property damage to EBS.