Accounting clerk in 5th month embezzled 300 million won... Had 18 prior convictions

Embezzled Over 300 Million Won in 241 Instances
Meticulous Crime Plan... Stolen Money Used for Living Expenses
Accountant Used Company Card 2,206 Times

An accounting staff member who embezzled 300 million won of company funds over 241 instances was sentenced to prison in the second trial following the first trial. It was revealed that this employee had been punished twice before for embezzlement and had a total of 18 criminal records including these offenses.

Secretly Deposited Company Funds into Own Account for Over 3 Years... Sentence Reduced in Second Trial

According to the legal community on the 13th, the Changwon District Court Criminal Division 3-3 (Chief Judge Lee Yujin) overturned the original 10-month prison sentence and sentenced A (36) to 8 months in prison in the appeal trial on charges of embezzlement in the course of duty, reported Yonhap News.

A is accused of secretly depositing 324.06 million won of freight transportation fees into their own account 241 times from August 2018 to May 2021 after joining an accounting position at a company in Geochang-gun, Gyeongnam.

A, who had already been punished twice for embezzlement in the past, began committing the crime again five months after starting work. The embezzled money was investigated to have been used personally for living expenses and other purposes.

To avoid detection, A meticulously falsified transaction records and prevented deposit notification messages from being sent to the victim.

The first trial court sentenced A to 10 months in prison, stating, "Despite having a prior record of embezzlement, the defendant committed this crime over a long period with a large scale of damage. Even considering favorable circumstances such as having young children to raise, a prison sentence is inevitable."

A appealed, claiming the first sentence was too harsh, and the second trial court reduced the sentence, citing A's remorse and partial repayment of the stolen money.

The second trial court ruled, "Considering that 221 million won was re-deposited during the crime, making the actual embezzled amount about 100 million won, an additional 18.7 million won was repaid, and the defendant showed remorse and admitted wrongdoing, the original sentence seems somewhat heavy."

Cases of Over 4.1 Billion Won Charged at Luxury Brand Stores

Misconduct by accounting staff handling company funds often occurs in small and medium-sized enterprises where monitoring systems are relatively weak. In April, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 29 (Chief Judge Kim Seungjeong) sentenced B to 7 years in prison in the first trial for using a corporate card for personal purposes amounting to over 4 billion won.

B reportedly used the corporate card 2,206 times over 4 years and 8 months from early January 2018 to the end of August last year, spending 4.10345 billion won at luxury brand stores such as Gucci, Chanel, Dior, and Louis Vuitton. B also resold some of the luxury goods purchased this way to prepare a deposit for a jeonse lease.

B kept several corporate cards for the company and committed the crime knowing that other employees rarely used those cards. B admitted to the crime and reportedly repaid 100 million won of the embezzled amount to the company.

The court ruled that B must compensate the company for the remaining 4 billion won of damages not yet repaid, but B appealed, rejecting the ruling entirely.