The Supreme Court has upheld a prison sentence of 3 years and 6 months for the older brother of TV personality Park Soo Hong, who was indicted on charges of embezzling billions of won, including Park’s appearance fees.
On the morning of February 26th KST, the First Division of the Supreme Court held the final sentencing hearing for Park’s older brother (Mr. Park) and his sister-in-law (Ms. Lee), who were charged with violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (Embezzlement).
The court confirmed the original lower court's verdict, sentencing Mr. Park to 3 years and 6 months in prison and Ms. Lee to 1 year and 6 months in prison, suspended for 2 years.
Mr. Park was indicted in October 2022 on charges of embezzling Park Soo Hong's earnings between 2011 and 2021 while managing two entertainment agencies, Lael and Mediaboom. While the initial indictment cited an embezzlement amount of approximately 6.17 billion won, the prosecution adjusted the figure to roughly 4.8 billion KRW(~3.4 million USD) during the first trial after excluding overlapping records.
The first trial court recognized only 2 billion KRW of the corporate funds as embezzled and sentenced Mr. Park to 2 years in prison. Meanwhile, Ms. Lee was found not guilty due to a lack of direct evidence proving her conspiracy in the crime.
However, the second trial reached a different conclusion. In December last year, the appellate court handed down a heavier sentence of 3 years and 6 months and ordered Mr. Park’s immediate detention in court.
The appellate court explained the sentencing by stating, "The actual damage to the victimized companies continues due to the defendant's crimes, and Park Soo Hong is pleading for strict punishment. The methods of the crime were extremely malicious, which we reflect as a special aggravating factor."
Furthermore, the second trial overturned the acquittal of Ms. Lee, sentencing her to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 2-year probation period.
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