Sentenced for bribery charges after 2 years of delivering 79kg of catch and other tributes at department head's demand
A public official who was promoted to grade 6 was convicted of bribery after giving gifts at the request of the department head in charge of personnel evaluation. On the 16th, the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 9 (Judge Jeong Hee-young) announced that it sentenced A (47), a public official at Ongjin County Office in Incheon, who was indicted on bribery charges, to a fine of 3 million won.
A was charged with giving bribes to B (57), his superior at the time, four times between August 2017 and September 2019, including 79 kg of fishery products and 5 boxes of grapes (worth a total of 1.75 million won). B was the department head responsible for personnel evaluation when A was promoted from grade 7 to grade 6 in 2017.
A heard from B that "since you were promoted, you should give a gift to your superior," and shortly after, received the account number of a rockfish seller. Following B's request, A paid for 50 kg of rockfish worth 1.05 million won on B's behalf. Three months later, A sent 19 kg of skate as a gift to B, and the following year, he again sent 10 kg of rockfish as a gift to B.
B, who was previously indicted without detention on charges of bribery and abuse of authority, was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison and fined 20 million won in January last year and was detained in court.
He was accused of receiving fishery products worth about 28 million won, including abalone and skate, 153 times from 23 people including fishermen in the jurisdictional island area and employees of the Fisheries Cooperative while working at Ongjin County Office from 2017 to 2020. He allegedly received various fishery products from fishermen under the pretense of helping them receive marine and fisheries subsidies, then converted them into cash at a sashimi restaurant he frequented or used some of them for dining expenses with acquaintances.
The court said regarding A, "Considering the defendant's testimony in court and evidence such as the police interrogation records, guilt is recognized," and added, "If the fine is not paid, the defendant will be detained in a labor camp for a period calculated at 100,000 won per day."
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