First Trial: 3 Years Imprisonment → Second Trial "No Establishment of Bribery"
Former Prosecutor General Yoon "Sacrificed and Oppressed Over Prosecution Reform"
Former Senior Prosecutor Yoon Gap-geun, who was tried on charges of receiving bribes related to Lime Asset Management (hereinafter Lime), was acquitted.
Former Daegu High Prosecutors' Office Chief Prosecutor Yoon Gap-geun, who was acquitted of lobbying charges related to Lime Asset Management, is expressing his position at a press conference held in front of the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 14th. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Lee Heung-gu) on the 14th upheld the lower court's verdict acquitting former Senior Prosecutor Yoon, who was indicted for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (receiving bribes for mediation).
Former Senior Prosecutor Yoon was charged with receiving 220 million KRW into a law firm account in July 2019 from former Lime Vice President Lee Jong-pil and Metropolitan Group Chairman Kim, along with a request to meet the president of Woori Bank to resume selling Lime funds.
In the first trial, the court found former Senior Prosecutor Yoon guilty and sentenced him to three years in prison with a fine of 220 million KRW. However, the appellate court acquitted him, stating, "The defendant's actions fall under legal services such as representation, solicitation, and mediation that a lawyer can perform, and receiving money from a client in this context does not constitute the crime of receiving bribes for mediation."
During the investigation, former Senior Prosecutor Yoon was detained and spent about one year in custody until the acquittal was announced in the appellate trial.
After the acquittal was confirmed, former Senior Prosecutor Yoon held a press conference and claimed, "I believe I was sacrificed as a way to resolve the tedious disputes over the so-called 'prosecutorial reform' under the pretext of the 'complete dismantling of prosecution powers' and issues related to the establishment of the Corruption Investigation Office."
He continued, "The people of the democratic republic were thoroughly sacrificed and oppressed," adding, "The rule of law has been trampled, power has been abused, and the parts of the law distorted for political purposes must be corrected."
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