Choi Sunghae, former president of Dongyang University, who was put on trial for embezzlement in the course of his work, has received a final suspended prison sentence.
According to the legal community on December 30, the Supreme Court’s Third Division (Presiding Justice Noh Kyungphil) upheld the lower court’s ruling, sentencing Choi to four months in prison with a one-year suspension, for embezzlement in the course of his work.
Choi was brought to trial on charges of arranging for an employee of a local broadcasting station, where he also served as chairman, to be falsely hired as a Dongyang University employee, and paying 80.8 million won in salary from the university’s funds over four years, from March 2013 to January 2017. He was also accused of paying about 16 million won in membership fees for a university foundation council from Dongyang University’s funds between March 2012 and April 2014.
The court of first instance stated, “He abused his position as president, undermining the financial soundness of a private school. The nature of the crime is poor, and the amount of damage is not insignificant,” sentencing him to six months in prison, suspended for two years.
The appellate court upheld the first-instance judgment but reduced the sentence to four months in prison with a one-year suspension, taking into account that Choi had compensated the school for all damages and reached a settlement, and that he had contributed to the development of private education as university president for about 25 years.
The Supreme Court dismissed Choi’s appeal, stating, “There was no violation of the principle of free evaluation of evidence, nor any misunderstanding of the legal principles regarding embezzlement in the course of work, in the lower court’s decision.”
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