Aides smashed storage devices ahead of search and seizure over Unification Church bribery allegations

Three others also convicted; judge says statute of limitations argument did not hold

Court: defendants were servants of the public before they were Jeon's subordinates

Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo [Busan city website]
Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo [Busan city website]

All four former aides to Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo were convicted Wednesday on charges of destroying evidence ahead of a search and seizure related to allegations that Jeon accepted money from the Unification Church during his time as a lawmaker. The most senior among them, a man in his 50s identified only as A, was sentenced to prison and taken into custody in the courtroom.

Judge Kim Su-hong of the Busan District Court's Western Branch sentenced A to one year in prison and ordered his detention on the grounds that he posed a flight risk. B, a man in his 50s who served as a Grade 4 aide, received eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and 120 hours of community service. C, a woman in her 30s who served as a Grade 8 secretary, and D, a man in his 20s who served as an intern secretary, were each fined 3 million won ($2,210).

The defendants argued that the statute of limitations on the underlying bribery allegations had already expired, making an evidence-destruction charge legally untenable. Judge Kim rejected that argument, reasoning that if the investigation were to reveal that Jeon had received 30 million won or more, the statute of limitations would extend to at least 10 years — meaning it could not be concluded that criminal prosecution was impossible at the time.

The judge also dismissed the defendants' claim that the destroyed storage devices contained no evidence relevant to the case. "The storage devices appear to have contained evidence related to the criminal case, including the former mayor's schedule and meeting records at the time," Kim said. He added that even if the evidentiary value had been limited, Supreme Court precedent holds that this does not affect the establishment of an evidence-destruction charge.

Judge Kim also noted that after intern D was questioned by police, A had told others words to the effect that "the Seoul office must never come up." While expressing some doubt as to whether A had independently planned and carried out the crime, Kim said A had "acted as the ringleader at the Busan office, and he himself acknowledges this."

B argued that he had merely turned a blind eye to the crime rather than conspiring in it, but the judge found his culpability was not light. As the most senior person at the Busan office, B had directed the crime alongside A, Kim said, adding that A would not have been able to carry it out so easily had B objected.

D directly carried out most of the destruction. The court found, however, that D had acted on orders from superiors and that it would have been difficult for an intern secretary to refuse. The court also took into account that D had no prior criminal record and was the only defendant to show genuine remorse.

Judge Kim said the criminal case to which the destroyed evidence pertained — involving alleged bribery by a politician who had served as a lawmaker, a minister and now heads a metropolitan government — was of the utmost importance. "This crime has gravely infringed upon the people's constitutional right to know," he said. He also said that as civil servants at the time, the defendants were servants of the entire public before they were Jeon's subordinates.

Kim said that while evidence-destruction cases often involve people acting out of personal loyalty without expectation of gain, the defendants in this case appeared to have acted in anticipation of tangible or intangible benefits from Jeon. "If that is so, the disadvantages they face must at least outweigh the expected benefits of the crime," he said, explaining his sentencing rationale.

The defendants were indicted on charges of destroying electronic data stored on their devices in anticipation of a search and seizure at Jeon's Busan constituency office in December last year. According to the charges, they dismantled hard disk drives with screwdrivers and struck them with a hammer, and bent solid-state drives with their hands and feet to render them inoperable.

The destroyed storage devices were later found to have been discarded — one near a field close to a defendant's home and another in a trash bin at a public bathhouse in Busan. At the final hearing on Aug. 14, prosecutors had sought one year and six months in prison for A, one year each for B and C, and six months for D.


kaf2002@heraldcorp.com