Office worker embezzled 1.5 billion won to buy 4 apartments... even opened a laundromat

Embezzled Company Funds... Court Seeks 5-Year Prison Sentence

An accounting clerk who embezzled approximately 1.5 billion KRW by inflating employee salaries and income tax payment amounts has been sentenced to prison.

The Changwon District Court Criminal Division 2 (Chief Judge Seo Aram) sentenced Mr. A, in his 50s, who was indicted on charges of embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes, to five years in prison, Yonhap News reported on the 25th.

According to a Yonhap News report on the 24th, the Changwon District Court Criminal Division 2 (Chief Judge Seo Aram) sentenced Mr. A, in his 50s, who was indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement), to five years in prison.
[Photo by Kim Dahi, Asia Economy]

Mr. A was charged with embezzling about 1.557 billion KRW from 2014 to 2021 by inflating salary and income tax payment amounts to get approval or by depositing only part of the company’s business trip advance payments.

He also recorded payments to suppliers as if paying raw material costs from the company account but actually transferred the money to his own account. Mr. A used the embezzled funds to purchase four apartments.

Even after the crime was discovered in June 2021, Mr. A took out loans exceeding 300 million KRW using the apartments as collateral until his arrest in October of the same year, spending the money on personal purposes such as opening a coin laundry, an unmanned ice cream shop, and returning tenant deposit guarantees.

The court stated the sentencing rationale, saying, "Although Mr. A could have repaid the victims by using the apartments as collateral to make payments or by setting up mortgages, he mostly spent the money on personal businesses. Considering that only 112 million KRW was repaid to the victims and that the victims are petitioning for severe punishment."