Yang Jin-ho, former chairman of Korea Future Technology, who was sentenced to 5 years in prison for bizarre power abuse and assault, has been additionally sentenced to 2 years in prison for breach of trust.
The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Noh Tae-ak) on the 1st upheld the original sentence of 2 years in prison for Yang, who was indicted for breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, by dismissing his appeal. Yang's spouse, Lee, who was also indicted, received a confirmed sentence of 2 years and 4 months in prison with a 4-year probation and 120 hours of community service.
Yang was indicted for lending 9.25 billion KRW of company funds, which he operated, to Lee without any collateral from January to May 2019, causing damage to the company.
Yang signed a joint guarantee contract with Lee, and Kim, the company CEO, approved it. The money was investigated to have been used for personal expenses such as Yang's legal fees and children's study abroad costs.
The first trial court stated, "Considering the scale of the victim company's assets and sales, the amount lent in a short period was excessive, and it is doubtful whether the defendants intended to repay it," and judged that "it is reasonable to see this as embezzlement of company funds."
Kim was also indicted and sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation in the first trial. He did not appeal, so the first trial's ruling was confirmed. Yang and Lee appealed the verdict, but the same sentence was maintained in the second trial.
Previously, Yang was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Supreme Court in April 2021 for assaulting company employees and forcing various bizarre acts (violations of the Act on the Punishment of Violent Crimes and the Animal Protection Act).
Additionally, he was indicted for leading illegal distribution of obscene materials through the 'webhard cartel' and embezzling about 16.7 billion KRW of company funds, including proceeds from the sale of subsidiaries (violations of the Information and Communications Network Act and embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes). He was sentenced to 5 years in prison in the first trial on January 1 and is currently undergoing appeal proceedings.
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