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A former police officer convicted of accepting hundreds of millions of won in bribes to suppress criminal cases had his prison sentence upheld on appeal Friday.
The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 15-2, presided over by Judges Lee Hee-jun, Seong Eon-ju and Won Ik-seon, upheld a six-year prison term and a fine of approximately 250 million won ($132,000) against the former officer, identified only by his surname Jeong, on charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. The court also ordered the forfeiture of 251.5 million won ($132,000).
A loan broker identified only as A, who paid the bribes, also had his two-year prison sentence upheld on appeal.
The court was sharply critical of Jeong, saying his conduct "severely undermined public trust in the fairness of investigations" and that "strict punishment is necessary."
The court was equally harsh toward A, saying the nature, means and consequences of his offense showed poor criminal character.
Jeong is accused of demanding money from a suspect named Kim, who was under investigation for multiple fraud cases, promising to consolidate the cases and secure non-prosecution outcomes for all of them. Between June 2020 and February 2021, Jeong allegedly received a total of 211.2 million won across 22 separate payments.
Investigators found that Jeong had sent explicit text messages demanding payment, including one that read: "Give me the money today. I'll get everything dropped," and another saying, "Starting next year, investigative independence kicks in — the new system will be Kim's world."
In exchange for the payments, Jeong arranged for 16 fraud cases in which Kim was a suspect to be transferred and reassigned to his precinct, where he either declined to forward them to prosecutors or sent them with a recommendation against indictment.
husn7@heraldcorp.com
