[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Choi Young, former vice chairman of Nice Group who stepped down amid controversy over his son's 'emperor military service,' was found guilty in the first trial. Choi is accused of providing meals and other benefits to military officers for his son's convenience during military service.
According to the legal community on the 9th, Judge Shin Hyukjae of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 4 sentenced Choi, who was tried on charges including bribery, to a fine of 5 million KRW.
Choi is accused of providing meals worth approximately 1.67 million KRW to military officers four times from February to May last year, requesting convenience for his son's military service. During this process, he also faced charges of embezzlement for using the corporate card of the company he operated. In particular, he allegedly expressed an intention to offer employment at his company's affiliate to military officer A, saying, "Don't worry about employment after discharge," which constitutes an expression of intent to bribe.
On this day, the court acknowledged all charges against Choi, stating, "It is appropriate to view that he implicitly expressed an intention to offer employment opportunities at the affiliate while complaining about difficulties related to his son's military service and requesting convenience." The court also explained that the charge of expressing intent to bribe is established even if Officer A refused the employment offer.
Meanwhile, military officer A, who was tried on charges of accepting bribes such as meals, was sentenced by Judge Hong Changwoo of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 1 to four months in prison with a one-year probation and fined 2 million KRW.
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