[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] What kind of punishment will the head of the finance management team at Osstem Implant, who committed an embezzlement of 188 billion KRW, receive?
The police investigation is currently underway, and the full details such as the circumstances and motives of the embezzlement, as well as the usage of the embezzled amount, have not yet been revealed. However, based on the information known so far and experts' opinions, a heavy sentence of more than 15 years in prison is generally expected.
Under the Criminal Act, the statutory penalty for embezzlement is "imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 15 million KRW," and for embezzlement in the course of business, the statutory penalty is "imprisonment for up to 10 years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW."
If the embezzled amount exceeds 500 million KRW, the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes applies. If the gain is between 500 million KRW and less than 5 billion KRW, the statutory penalty is "imprisonment for 3 years or more," and if the gain is 5 billion KRW or more, the statutory penalty is increased to "life imprisonment or imprisonment for 5 years or more."
The sentencing guidelines recommended by the Supreme Court Sentencing Commission suggest a basic imprisonment term of 4 to 7 years (5 to 8 years if aggravated) for embezzlement amounts between 5 billion KRW and less than 30 billion KRW, and a basic term of 5 to 8 years (7 to 11 years if aggravated) for amounts of 30 billion KRW or more.
However, these are only recommended sentences, and the actual sentence can increase depending on the specific case.
On the 4th, a sitting presiding judge, Mr. A, said, "The sentencing guidelines set recommended sentences for ordinary, typical cases, but many cases deviate from this norm. While looking at sentences in similar cases can serve as a reference, sentencing can vary greatly depending on various circumstances such as the use of the embezzled funds, the circumstances under which the money was entrusted, and the attitude of the custodian."
Mr. B, a former senior prosecutor with extensive experience investigating economic crimes, recalled, "About 20 years ago, a manager in charge of fund management at Samsung embezzled about 100 billion KRW and used it for stock investments and entertainment. At that time, he was sentenced to over ten years in prison."
Regarding this case, he predicted, "In the past, the prosecution might have sought about 15 years in prison, but now they could seek 20 years, and if the damages have not been compensated, the court is expected to sentence more than 15 years in prison."
Among past cases, the one most similar in terms of the amount involved is the 2009 case of Park, the head of finance at Dong-A Construction, who embezzled a total of 189.8 billion KRW, including 100 billion KRW of company funds and 89.8 billion KRW of trust funds, and used it for stock investments and overseas gambling trips.
Known as the "Gangnam Chairman Park" at Kangwon Land, Park spent 2 to 3 billion KRW per day and was sentenced to 22 years and 6 months in prison and fined 10 billion KRW in both the first and second trials. The finance manager who assisted Park was sentenced to 7 years, and a bank employee received 5 years.
In 2005, Kim, an employee of Joheung Bank, opened securities accounts under the names of his two sisters and embezzled 41.2 billion KRW in 16 installments ranging from 3 to 7 billion KRW each from the bank's "other borrowings" account.
In the first trial, the prosecution sought 10 years in prison for Kim, but the court sentenced him to 6 years. The fact that 33.3 billion KRW of the embezzled amount was not repaid was an unfavorable factor in sentencing.
Last year, a Saemaeul Geumgo employee who embezzled about 1.06 billion KRW by prematurely terminating customers' fixed deposits or taking loans under customers' names in 72 instances was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison in the first trial. A man in his 50s, Mr. Lim, who embezzled about 4.3 billion KRW of company funds and used it for stock investments, was sentenced to 4 years in the first trial but had his sentence reduced to 2 years and 6 months in the second trial.
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