[Breaking] Supreme Court Overturns and Remands Not Guilty Verdict for Prosecutor in Lime Scandal Kim Bong-hyun's 'Drinking Entertainment' Case

The Supreme Court overturned the not guilty verdicts for former and current prosecutors who were tried for receiving alcohol entertainment from Kim Bong-hyun, the former chairman of Star Mobility and a key figure in the Lime Asset Management (Lime) scandal, as well as for Kim himself, who provided the entertainment.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) on the 8th overturned the lower court's verdicts that acquitted Kim, prosecutor Na, and lawyer Lee, a former prosecutor, who were indicted for violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, and remanded the case to the Seoul Southern District Court.

The court stated, "Considering the relationship between the entertainment provider and the defendants who are public officials and other attendees, their respective statuses, the purpose and reason for providing the entertainment, the circumstances and duration of attendance, and the details and characteristics of the entertainment provided, if special circumstances are proven that the value of entertainment received by other attendees cannot be evaluated as equal to that of the defendants, the value of entertainment received by other attendees should be separated and deducted from the total cost, and the remaining amount should be equally divided among the entertainment provider and the other attendees to determine the value of entertainment for the defendants," explaining the reason for the remand.

Kim and lawyer Lee were jointly prosecuted for providing entertainment worth approximately 1.14 million won, including alcohol and side dishes exceeding 1 million won per occasion, to prosecutor Na on July 18, 2019. Prosecutor Na was indicted for receiving entertainment exceeding 1 million won per occasion.