Court Sentences Yoon Jung-chun to Prison in Appeal for 'Fraud' and Other Charges... Statute-Barred Sexual Charges Receive Formal Judgment

Construction contractor Yoon Joong-chun. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Construction businessman Yoon Jung-chun (59), a key figure in the ‘villa sexual bribery’ case, was sentenced to prison after being found guilty of fraud and other charges in the second trial, following the first trial.

However, regarding Yoon’s sexual assault-related charges such as rape, as in the first trial, the statute of limitations had expired, resulting in dismissal or termination of prosecution by formal judgment.

The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 6 (Presiding Judges Oh Seok-jun, Lee Jeong-hwan, Jeong Su-jin) on the 29th sentenced Yoon, who was indicted on charges including rape causing injury under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act and fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to 5 years and 6 months in prison and ordered confiscation of approximately 1.48 billion won, the same as in the first trial.

The court stated, "After comprehensively reviewing the expert committee’s report and materials submitted during the appeal process, we concluded that maintaining the first trial’s judgment is appropriate."

The court also expressed regret over the situation where substantive judgment on guilt or innocence could not be made due to the expiration of the statute of limitations on sexual-related charges.

The court said, "We empathize with the victim woman who suffered very painful emotional wounds," adding, "The factual findings and legal judgments are necessarily limited to the crimes for which prosecution was initiated, and we regret that this does not help in healing the victim’s wounds."

Yoon was prosecuted for threatening Ms. A from 2006 to 2007 to have sexual relations with influential figures including former Vice Minister Kim Hak-ui, and for sexually assaulting Ms. A, causing mental injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

He is also charged with having his wife ‘self-report’ him and his former mistress Kwon for adultery in order to avoid repaying 2.16 billion won borrowed from Kwon under the pretext of real estate development project funds between 2011 and 2012.

Additionally, Yoon is accused of fraud amounting to about 4.4 billion won, including receiving approximately 1.48 billion won from a real estate development company between 2008 and 2015 by promising to secure golf course permits.

The first trial recognized Yoon’s guilt for fraud and other charges but issued formal judgments such as dismissal or termination of prosecution for sexual assault charges related to the villa sexual bribery allegations, citing expiration of the statute of limitations.

Former Vice Minister Kim, who was prosecuted on charges of receiving sexual bribery from Yoon, was also acquitted or had charges dismissed on all counts in the first trial.

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