Kim Bonghyun, the former chairman of Star Mobility and a key figure in the Lime scandal, has been sentenced to another prison term for fleeing after cutting off his electronic ankle monitor.
According to the legal community on June 19, the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 14 Single Judge (Presiding Judge Kim Gilho) sentenced former chairman Kim Bonghyun to one year in prison on June 17 for damaging public property and violating the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act.
In December 2023, Kim was already sentenced to 30 years in prison by the Supreme Court. He was convicted of embezzling more than 10 billion won, including 24.1 billion won from Suwon Passenger funds, over 40 billion won from Star Mobility funds invested by Lime Asset Management, and 37.7 billion won from assets held by the Veterans Association Funeral Service, between October 2018 and March 2020.
During this process, Kim was released on bail in July 2021. However, in November of the following year, before the sentencing hearing in the first trial for the embezzlement case, he fled after cutting off his electronic monitor, but was apprehended two days later. It was reported that Kim conspired with his nephew, who worked as his personal secretary, to plan the escape and used tools prepared in advance to damage the electronic device.
Regarding this, the court stated, "Although the defendant was released on bail on the condition of wearing a real-time location tracking electronic device, he cut off the device and fled," and added, "Considering the disruption to the trial and the manpower and effort required to apprehend the defendant, the guilt is significant."
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