"Police Officer and Former Classmate Who Covered for Prostitution Businesses Sentenced to 5 Years for Bribery"

Personal Information Leak of Business 112 Reporters
Court: "Public Trust Severely Damaged"

A police officer who facilitated a prostitution establishment run by a middle school classmate and accepted bribes in return was sentenced to prison.

According to the legal community on the 12th, the Criminal Division 1 of the Pyeongtaek Branch of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge An Tae-yoon) sentenced Mr. A, who was detained and prosecuted on charges of bribery and official secret leakage under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, to five years in prison and a fine of 90 million won. Mr. B, who was prosecuted for giving bribes to Mr. A (bribery offering, etc.), was sentenced to one year and six months in prison.

From October 2019 to January 2020, Mr. A is accused of receiving 30 million won in exchange for facilitating cases related to the prostitution establishment near Pyeongtaek Station in Gyeonggi Province at the request of Mr. B, the owner of the establishment and a middle school classmate, and for providing the owner with the names and contact information of informants who reported the establishment to 112.

The defendants denied their charges, claiming that they had conducted financial transactions due to their long-standing friendship and that the 30 million won was merely a partial repayment of a loan principal without any solicitation. However, the court did not accept this.

Earlier, the police investigating the case dismissed the bribery charges based on Mr. A’s statement that he had a creditor-debtor relationship with the owner. However, the prosecution later uncovered Mr. A’s alias bank account and secured testimonies from related parties to establish the crime. After reviewing the evidence, the court judged that the money received by Mr. A constituted a bribe, and unless it is clearly proven that the reason for the payment by Mr. B was completely unrelated to Mr. A’s duties, it is reasonable to consider that the money was given as a reward related to Mr. A’s official duties.

The court stated, “Mr. A committed illegal acts by accepting money as a reward for facilitating cases related to the duties of other police officers and providing conveniences during the investigation of criminal cases. This severely undermines public trust and is highly condemnable.” It added, “The defendant still maintains in this courtroom the belief that the financial transactions were ordinary and could be conducted by anyone, that the conveniences provided had little impact on the investigation results, and that only insignificant information was given, causing no problems in the police’s performance of duties.”

Currently, Mr. A has been suspended from his position, and the police plan to hold a disciplinary committee for him soon.