Former KT CEO Koo Hyunmo, who was indicted on charges of creating slush funds by purchasing and reselling gift certificates and then providing illegal political donations to members of the National Assembly, has been acquitted of embezzlement in the course of duty.
According to the legal community on June 13, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Shin Sookhee) upheld the lower court's acquittal of Koo on embezzlement charges the previous day. The Supreme Court stated, "There is no error in the lower court's judgment that violates the rules of logic and experience, exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misunderstands the legal principles regarding the timing of the completion of embezzlement, the intent of unlawful acquisition, or the establishment of joint criminal enterprise," and dismissed the prosecutor's appeal.
Koo was indicted on charges of creating 337.9 million won in slush funds together with nine current and former KT executives by purchasing and reselling gift certificates (a practice known as 'gift certificate kkang') between May 2014 and October 2017, and using the funds to provide political donations to 99 lawmakers from both the 19th and 20th National Assembly, across party lines.
The first and second trials found Koo guilty of violating the Political Funds Act and imposed a fine of 7 million won. However, as neither side appealed the verdict after the second trial in June last year, the ruling was finalized. Regarding the embezzlement charge, the first trial imposed a fine of 3 million won, while the second trial acquitted him.
The appellate court stated, "The prosecution indicted based on the timing of the donation transfer as the point of embezzlement, but in this case, unlike the usual creation of off-the-books funds, the money was prepared first and the payment was made afterward," adding, "If viewed this way, it is reasonable to see the post-payment as embezzlement, but in this case, collusion among the defendants cannot be recognized."
KT Saenodjo, a minority union, commented, "The acquittal appears to be due to a technical issue in the prosecution's indictment, but this does not mean there was no problem with the act of embezzling company funds through the gift certificate kkang scheme itself."
The union also criticized the board of directors for appointing Koo as CEO, stating, "Ultimately, when the Yoon Sukyeol administration took office, Kim Youngsub was once again parachuted in as CEO, repeating a dark history. Such large-scale parachute appointments, treating KT as a spoil of the administration, must never happen again."
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