Court Sentences Former Seongnam Mayor Eun Soo-mi to 2 Years in Prison for Bribery... Sentenced to Immediate Custody

Former Seongnam Mayor Eun Soo-mi, who was indicted on charges including bribery and abuse of power, is attending the first trial sentencing hearing held at Suwon District Court in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of the 16th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Eun Su-mi, former mayor of Seongnam City, who was indicted on charges including granting improper requests to police officers in exchange for receiving investigation materials related to her political funds law violation case under police investigation, was sentenced to prison and detained in court in the first trial.

The Criminal Division 11 of Suwon District Court (Presiding Judge Shin Jin-woo) on the 16th sentenced former Mayor Eun, who was indicted on charges including bribery offering and acceptance, abuse of authority, and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, to 2 years in prison and a fine of 10 million KRW, and ordered a confiscation of 4.67 million KRW.

Additionally, the court sentenced Park Mo, former policy advisor to former Mayor Eun, who was jointly indicted on bribery offering charges, to 4 months in prison, and Kim Mo, former executive secretary to former Mayor Eun, who was indicted for violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, to 6 months in prison with a 2-year probation and ordered a confiscation of 5.5 million KRW.

The court stated, "The defendant received improper requests from the responsible police officer to gain investigative convenience related to a criminal case directly linked to maintaining the mayoral position through the policy advisor, and approved the crimes committed during the process of providing benefits such as private contracts and personnel appointments," adding, "Although the defendant should have overseen and directed city administration and affiliated public officials as mayor, she participated in the crime for personal gain, seriously undermining the fairness of public contracts."

It continued, "Nevertheless, the defendant has not reflected on her crimes and denied all charges for unreasonable reasons," and "She shifted responsibility by claiming that her subordinate committed the acts for personal gain, making severe punishment inevitable," explaining the sentencing rationale.

Former Mayor Eun was indicted for conspiring with her closest aide Park to grant improper requests to police officer Kim, who belonged to Seongnam Jungwon Police Station and was investigating her case in October 2018, in exchange for receiving confidential investigation information.

Former Mayor Eun was also charged with granting personnel requests for another police officer who was Kim’s superior and receiving cash amounting to 4.67 million KRW and wine from the policy advisor.

The court found most of former Mayor Eun’s charges guilty, including the request to assign a specific company to a tunnel streetlight replacement project worth approximately 450 million KRW in exchange for receiving investigation materials from Kim, and personnel requests to promote two acquaintances to administrative officer positions and assign them as team leaders.

During the sentencing hearing, former Mayor Eun occasionally shook her head, appearing to deny the court’s judgment.

In her final statement that day, she still denied the charges and expressed her intention to appeal.

Former Mayor Eun said, "As I have consistently stated, I did not do anything shameful to deserve such a verdict," and "I will appeal. I believe my innocence will be proven."