Supreme Court Confirms Suspended Sentence for Former Blue House Secretary Song In-bae in 'Illegal Political Fund Receipt' Case

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The suspended prison sentence for former Blue House Political Secretary Song In-bae, who was indicted on charges of receiving illegal political funds, has been finalized.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheol-sang) announced on the 27th that it upheld the lower court's ruling sentencing former Secretary Song to one year in prison with a two-year suspension, along with a fine of approximately 290 million won, in the appeal trial for violations of the Political Funds Act and other charges.

The court stated, "There is no error in the lower court's judgment that exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence or misinterprets the legal principles concerning political funds and the doctrine of continuous offense as stipulated in the Political Funds Act."

Former Secretary Song was indicted on charges of receiving about 292 million won in political funds under the name of salary and other fees while serving as an advisor at the Cygnus Country Club in Chungju, Chungbuk, from August 2010 to May 2017. Song's side claimed innocence, arguing that the advisory fees were not used for political activities.

The first trial ruled that only the salary received after November 2011 violated the Political Funds Act, sentencing him to one year in prison with a two-year suspension and a fine of 245.19 million won.

The second trial maintained the guilty verdict of the first trial, stating, "When a full-time politician or someone in an equivalent position receives money from a third party, this money should be regarded as political funds unless there are special circumstances."

However, the second trial additionally recognized more charges and increased the fine from 245.19 million won to 292.09 million won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.