All Participants Including Ostem Finance Team Leader Found Guilty
The former finance team leader of Osstem Implant, who was prosecuted for embezzling more than 200 billion won of company funds, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.
According to the legal community on the 14th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice No Jeong-hee) confirmed on the 28th of last month the original court ruling sentencing Lee (aged 47), who was charged with embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violation of the Act on the Regulation of Concealment of Criminal Proceeds, to 35 years in prison and a fine of approximately 91.7 billion won.
Lee was arrested and indicted in 2022 on charges of embezzling 221.5 billion won of company funds over 15 occasions from November 2020 to October 2021 while working as the finance team leader at Osstem Implant, transferring the money into securities accounts under his own name and using it for stock investments, real estate, and gold bar purchases.
To conceal the crime, Lee reportedly purchased real estate worth about 7.5 billion won under the names of his wife and sister-in-law, and gifted commercial buildings he owned to his wife, younger sister, and sister-in-law’s husband and wife.
Both the first and second trials sentenced Lee to 35 years in prison. However, the second trial reduced the fine from 115.18797 billion won imposed in the first trial to approximately 91.7 billion won.
Family members involved in Lee’s crime were also sentenced to prison terms. Lee’s wife, Park, was sentenced to 3 years in prison, while his sister-in-law and younger sister received 2 years and 1 year and 6 months respectively in the appellate court, and these sentences were finalized as they did not appeal.
Lee’s crime was first revealed in January 2022 through a disclosure by Osstem Implant. The company’s stock was suspended from trading and faced delisting risks but recently received a decision from the stock exchange to maintain its listing, allowing trading to resume. The company filed a damages lawsuit against Lee and others, but the lawsuit was concluded last August after a settlement was reached.
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