[Invest&Law] Former Kumho Group Executive Sentenced to Prison by Supreme Court for Bribing FTC Official

A former executive of Kumho Asiana Group has received a finalized prison sentence from the Supreme Court for providing money and golf entertainment to a Fair Trade Commission (FTC) official and instructing the deletion of materials unfavorable to the group.

Supreme Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. / Asia Economy DB.

According to the legal community on April 22, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Shin Sookhee) on March 13 dismissed the appeal of Yoon, a former executive director of Kumho Asiana Group (aged 52), who had been indicted on charges including bribery and instigation of evidence destruction, and upheld the lower court's sentence of two years in prison. Song, a former FTC official (aged 55) who was tried alongside Yoon for charges including bribery and destruction of evidence, also received a finalized sentence of one year in prison and a fine of 10 million won. The order to forfeit approximately 4.17 million won was also upheld.

Previously, between 2014 and 2018, former executive Yoon was indicted and detained on charges of requesting Song to delete certain materials unfavorable to the group from the documents submitted by the company to the FTC, and in return, providing money and golf entertainment worth approximately 4,178,000 won. At the time, Song was in charge of digital forensic data analysis at the FTC, and it was found that he deleted or replaced content unfavorable to former Kumho Asiana Group chairman Park Samkoo and others from the materials secured by the FTC. Song was also charged with leaking advance information about on-site investigations and inspection schedules related to the company.

The court of first instance sentenced former executive Yoon to two years in prison, stating, "While managing the funds of the owner family, he directly instructed an FTC official to destroy evidence and provided bribes under the pretext of a request." Regarding Song, the court stated, "As an FTC official, he leaked information about on-site investigation schedules, plans, and inspection details, fabricated false official documents, and even accepted bribes, causing significant disruption to the proper exercise of criminal justice through the discovery of substantive truth." Song was sentenced to one year and six months in prison, a fine of 10 million won, and the forfeiture of approximately 4.17 million won.

The appellate court maintained the sentence for former executive Yoon. However, for Song, the court found him not guilty on part of the charge of obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means and reduced his prison sentence to one year. The court acknowledged that some materials had been altered, but concluded it was difficult to determine that FTC investigators had actually made erroneous judgments as a result. The Supreme Court also found this judgment to be correct.

Meanwhile, in 2020, the FTC filed a complaint with the prosecution against former chairman Park, executives of the group's Strategic Management Office, and related corporations over allegations of unfair support to affiliates. Kumho Industrial and Asiana Airlines were fined a total of 32 billion won. Former chairman Park was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the first trial and is currently undergoing his appeal trial.