Said Let's Do Business Together, Then Siphoned Off Hundreds of Millions of Won in Company Funds: Business Partner Gets 'Prison Term'

Siphoned Off 200 Million Won Over 2 Years and Misused Corporate Card···Strongly Pleaded "Business Facing Crisis of Survival"
Court: "Long Period of Crime and Large Amount of Damage···Most of the Damage Not Recovered"

A case has emerged in which a man who ran a company together with a business partner and siphoned off several hundred million won in company funds was sentenced to prison by the court.

The Daegu District Court on the 12th of last month sentenced A, in his 40s, who had been indicted on charges of occupational embezzlement and occupational breach of trust, to one year in prison.

A was accused of siphoning off, without authorization, about 200 million won in company funds that had been kept in the account of his business partner B, on some 50 occasions over two years starting in 2021. He was also accused of using the company's corporate card on some 200 occasions to pay about 9 million won for personal purposes during the same period.

During the trial, B strongly urged the court to impose severe punishment, stating that A, who was in charge of accounting, had abused the trust between them to commit continuous embezzlement, and that as a result the company had been driven to a crisis of survival.

In sentencing A to one year in prison, the Daegu District Court panel stated as its sentencing reasons, "The period of the defendant's crime is long and the amount of damage is large, so the culpability is very heavy," adding, "Nevertheless, we took into account the fact that most of the damage has not been recovered to date."

Attorney Ahn Seung-jin of Daeryun LLC, who represented B in this trial, explained, "For occupational embezzlement and breach of trust to be established, there must be an intent of unlawful acquisition, whereby a person who keeps another's property or handles another's affairs breaches that duty to obtain private gain," adding, "It appears that the court, taking seriously the fact that A, as a business partner, abused deep trust to siphon off a large sum over a long period, and that the damage has not been recovered, imposed a prison sentence."

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Said Let's Do Business Together, Then Siphoned Off Hundreds of Millions of Won in Company Funds: Business Partner Gets 'Prison Term' (Go)