I borrowed business funds without the ability to repay and did not pay them back, but I am ‘not guilty’... the reason is

The defendant denies the charges... “The ability to repay was sufficient” was refuted.
The court said, “High profit record… appears to have been capable of repaying the loan.”

Business owners who were sent to trial on charges of borrowing business funds without the ability to repay and then failing to repay were found not guilty.

According to the legal community on the 30th, the Bucheon Branch of Incheon District Court found two people, including Mr. A, a man in his 40s, not guilty on the 12th on charges of fraud.

Mr. A and others are suspected of stealing about 600 million won in the name of business funds from loan shark Mr. B while they were unable to repay due to the company's management difficulties for about a year since 2017.

Mr. A denied the charges, saying, “We were generating significant sales through other private businesses in addition to the company that was experiencing financial difficulties, so we had sufficient ability to repay,” and “We were maintaining a normal business relationship with Mr. B.”

In addition, “During the financial transaction process, at the request of Mr. B, I used a bank account in the name of a third party, and money was continuously repaid through that account.” He added, “If you add up all the transaction details of such borrowed-name accounts, an amount much larger than the loan amount was repaid.”

The court accepted the claims of Mr. A and others and declared them not guilty. The court ruled that at the time of the indictment, Mr. A was running a private business and recording high profits, and most of the borrowed money seemed to have been used for the private business, so it could be seen that he had the intention and ability to repay the loan.

In addition, the fact that financial transaction details became more complicated by using borrowed-name accounts without accurate settlement during the transaction process also influenced the ruling.

The court ruled, “It is difficult to rule out the possibility that repayment was made in such a situation,” and “Considering that the defendants have continuously repaid the victim in past transactions, it is difficult to say that there was an intention to deceive only with respect to the money in question.”

Attorney Park Jeong-gu of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, “Generally, fraud through repeated financial transactions builds trust and then gradually increases the borrowed amount and then stops repayment. However, Mr. A was able to prove that it had an intention to repay because the amount repaid in all periods of transaction with Mr. B was greater than the amount lent.”

Reporter Kim Mi-ji (unknown@kyeonggi.com)

[View full article]
Gyeonggi Ilbo - 'Not guilty' for borrowing business funds without the ability to repay and not repaying... the reason (shortcut)
Seoul Economic Daily - "I borrowed 600 million won in business funds and couldn't repay it"... The reason for the ‘not guilty’ verdict (Shortcut)