Prosecutors: "Undermining Social Trust in Financial Markets"
Sentencing on January 26 Next Year
The prosecution has requested the court to sentence Park Cha-hoon (66), the former president of the Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association, who was indicted on charges of receiving bribes worth hundreds of millions of won from executives of the Central Association and asset management company representatives, to 10 years in prison.
On the 18th, at the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Kim Byung-chul), during the trial on charges including bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes against former President Park, the prosecution demanded a 10-year prison sentence, confiscation of two golden seals, and a fine of 250 million won.
Park Cha-hoon, former president of the National Credit Union Federation of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News
In the final statement, the prosecution pointed out that the amount of money directly received by former President Park in connection with his duties was 258 million won, stating, "This was not a one-time crime but was committed repeatedly, yet former President Park denies the crime with unacceptable excuses and shows no remorse."
They added, "This is a serious crime that severely undermines the general public's trust in the financial market, and the nature of the crime is extremely bad. Given the gravity of the crime, a real prison sentence of 10 years is inevitable, and due to concerns about flight risk and evidence destruction, detention in court is necessary."
In his final statement, former President Park said, "As the president of Saemaeul Geumgo, who has played an important role in financial institutions, I apologize to the court, the executives and employees of Saemaeul Geumgo, and the public for standing trial over such matters."
However, regarding the charge of receiving 100 million won in cash from Yoo Young-seok (55), former CEO of the asset management company Ice Tum Partners, through Ryu Hyuk (59), CEO of the Central Association Credit Guarantee, he claimed, "I thought it was a penalty or compensation related to real estate investment. If I had known it was illicit money from the former CEO Yoo’s side, I would have hidden or denied receiving the money."
He also generally denied the charges of having 50 million won in attorney fees paid on his behalf by them, and 22 million won in attorney fees paid on his behalf by full-time directors, stating that he was unaware of the payments or never requested them.
According to the prosecution, former President Park is accused of receiving 100 million won in cash and 50 million won in attorney fees paid on his behalf from former CEO Yoo through CEO Ryu in August last year and April 2021, respectively.
There are also charges that around the December 2021 Central Association presidential election, he received 78 million won from three full-time directors under the pretext of organizational management, which was used for congratulatory and condolence expenses, employee and women's association encouragement funds, and nephew’s congratulatory money, and that 22 million won in criminal case initiation fees was paid on his behalf by them. Additionally, he is charged with receiving two golden seals worth about 8 million won as a reward for appointment from Kim (63), CEO of a Saemaeul Geumgo subsidiary.
On the same day, the prosecution demanded four years in prison each for Hwang (59), a guiding director of the Central Association, and Kim (64), a former executive director, who were indicted for bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes for giving money to former President Park. Two secretariat chiefs accused of aiding the crime were each sentenced to two years in prison, and the subsidiary CEO Kim, accused of giving the golden seals, was sentenced to one year in prison.
The sentencing hearing will be held on January 26 next year.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
