Published : Aug. 18, 2017 - 13:51
A Seoul appellate court on Friday reduced the sentence for a businessman convicted of paying huge bribes to a lawyer and judge to solicit weak punishment for his crime.
The Seoul High Court sentenced Jung Woon-ho, former head of local cosmetics chain, Nature Republic, to 3 1/2 years in jail. A lower court gave him a five-year prison term in January.
Jung has been indicted on charges of bribery and embezzlement that culminated in a far-reaching corruption scandal in the legal circle. A former judge and high-profile lawyer, among a few others involved, have been put behind bars for receiving kickbacks from Jung in return for helping him get a weaker verdict for his illegal overseas gambling.
Jung Woon-ho, former head of cosmetics chain Nature Republic, enters the courthouse in Seoul to attend his appeals trial for bribery and embezzlement on Aug. 18, 2017. (Yonhap)
The higher court cleared him of part of the charges, ruling that his offer of some 150 million won ($131,370), including a high-end SUV, to convicted Judge Kim Soo-chun was not part of the bribes for lobbying, citing a lack of evidence.
The court also acquitted him of the charges that he got illicit gains from claiming leasehold rights to part of the two hotels owned by his company, saying that it's difficult to determine the profits based on the given evidence.
Still, the court said it maintained a hefty sentence on the defendant, saying that "a severe punishment is inevitable, given his past actions indicating that he seriously undermined the law and had the wrong idea that money can fix anything."
Late last month, the same appeals court sentenced a judge-turned-lawyer convicted of taking bribes from Jung to six years in prison, nearly unchanged from the lower court's ruling of seven years. Judge Kim was sentenced to five years behind bars in an appellate trial in early July. (Yonhap)