[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The prosecution has requested a six-year prison sentence for Cho Beom-dong, the fifth cousin of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, who was indicted on charges including allegations related to a private equity fund.
On the 2nd, during the sentencing hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 24 (Presiding Judge So Byeong-seok) regarding Cho's charges of violating the Capital Markets Act and others, the prosecution made this request to the court.
The prosecution described Cho's charges as "a new form of collusion between power and corruption, where undue benefits were given to those in power, and the defendant exploited this collusion for personal gain."
They also referenced the Park Geun-hye administration's state manipulation scandal and the United States' Watergate scandal, stating, "This case involves corruption crimes by the highest levels of executive power, and the court needs to uphold the rule of law by seeing the substance and truth and imposing strict sentencing according to the law."
Cho was detained and indicted last October on 16 charges including violations of the Capital Markets Act, embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, breach of trust, and evidence tampering.
Among these charges is the allegation that Cho inflated reports to the Financial Services Commission, falsely claiming that the Cho family had agreed to invest 10 billion won in a private equity fund.
He is also accused of embezzling 157 million won from a private equity (PE) fund he effectively managed by signing a false consulting contract, and of hiding documents related to the private equity fund.
In December of last year, the prosecution amended the indictment to name Jeong Gyeong-sim, Cho Kuk’s wife and a professor at Dongyang University, as a co-conspirator in these three charges.
During the trial, Cho admitted to some charges such as evidence tampering but argued that too many charges were unfairly imposed on him.
Previously, in the first trial, Cho denied nine out of the 16 charges. He has also contested the charges related to some of the admitted offenses, maintaining his innocence.
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