[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] An employee of Gyeyang Electric, a KOSPI-listed company, who was prosecuted for embezzling hundreds of billions of won of company funds, was sentenced to a heavy prison term again in the appellate court.
On the afternoon of the 9th, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 9 (Presiding Judge Moon Gwangseop) sentenced Kim (36), who was indicted on charges of embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to 12 years in prison, the same as the first trial.
In addition, the confiscated cryptocurrency was seized, and a supplementary order to recover about 20.3 billion won was issued. Unlike the first trial, instead of ordering confiscation, the supplementary fine was reduced by the equivalent amount.
The appellate court stated, "Considering the overall circumstances of the crime and the amount of damage, the nature of the crime is very serious. The company suffered severe losses that have not yet been recovered, and it is petitioning for severe punishment of the defendant."
A man in his 30s, employee Kim, accused of embezzling approximately 24.6 billion KRW of company funds over six years from KOSPI-listed company Gyeyang Electric [Image source=Yonhap News]
Earlier, Kim was prosecuted on charges of embezzlement after working as a deputy manager in the finance team of the management support department at Gyeyang Electric for six years since 2016. After losing a large amount of money due to gambling, he transferred a total of approximately 24.6 billion won of company funds from the company’s account to his own account 925 times. This amount corresponded to 12.7% of Gyeyang Electric’s equity capital of 192.6 billion won.
Although Kim voluntarily returned 3.7 billion won of the embezzled funds to the company, it was revealed that before his arrest, he entrusted about 500 million won worth of cryptocurrency to his ex-wife, leading to additional charges of violating the Act on the Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment.
In the first trial, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay a supplementary fine of about 20.8 billion won. The first trial court pointed out, "The company suffered serious damage, most of which has not been recovered, and is petitioning for severe punishment of the defendant." The court also emphasized to Kim, "While serving your sentence, you must reflect on yourself and ensure that such incidents never happen again upon reintegration into society. When possible, make efforts to compensate for the damage and spend time reflecting on yourself."
Gyeyang Electric’s stock trading was suspended after the embezzlement was revealed but resumed in mid-July last year. In December of the same year, Kim also lost a civil lawsuit and was ordered to compensate Gyeyang Electric approximately 20.8489 billion won.
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