Used part of the cash before mailing the wallet
Owner said they "did not want punishment," but a fine was still imposed
A care worker in her 50s has been fined for misappropriation of lost property. The issue arose after she picked up a wallet intending to return it, but took 2,000 won in cash from inside. Although the victim stated that they did not want her to be punished, the offense does not fall under crimes that require the victim’s express wish to prosecute, so the investigation continued. She was ultimately fined 50,000 won.
On February 8, Yonhap News reported the story of Ms. A, who found a card wallet on May 17 last year at night next to a trash can on the platform of Yeongdeungpo Market Station on Subway Line 5. Because the last train was arriving at the time, Ms. A first took the wallet home and then, the next morning, put it into a mailbox near the place where it had been lost.
However, in the process, Ms. A took out and kept the 2,000 won in cash that was inside the wallet. She explained, "While I was on my way to the location, I thought about the transportation costs I had spent and thought, 'Wouldn't it be acceptable to at least take this much as a small fee?'"
Two months later, in July, Ms. A was contacted by the Subway Police Unit and summoned for investigation on suspicion of misappropriation of lost property. The wallet she had put into the mailbox had not been delivered directly to the owner but had been kept at the post office, and once it was confirmed that the cash was missing, the matter became a problem.
Ms. A immediately returned the 2,000 won, and the owner of the wallet submitted a written statement expressing that they did not wish to see her punished. However, because the crime of misappropriation of lost property is not a type of offense that depends on the victim’s explicit wish to prosecute, the investigation did not end.
Instead of formally booking Ms. A as a criminal suspect and sending the case to the prosecution, the police referred it to the Minor Offense Review Committee. The committee requested a summary trial, and the Seoul Southern District Court imposed a fine of 50,000 won. Although this does not remain as a typical criminal record, if her record is disclosed, it could restrict her from being appointed to public-sector positions.
Ms. A filed an information disclosure request and civil complaints, claiming that she had been treated unfairly. She said, "All I wanted was for the wallet to safely be returned to its owner," adding, "It was a wrong decision, but branding me a criminal is an excessively harsh punishment." She further argued that the fact she returned the money and the surrounding circumstances were not fully reflected in the investigative records.
The police, however, stated that no investigative records had been omitted, and that referring the case to the Minor Offense Review Committee instead of sending it to the prosecution constituted leniency.
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