Faculty Member Embezzles 500 Million Won in Student Tuition, Sentenced to 8 Months in Prison

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] A university staff member who embezzled more than 550 million won in student tuition and scholarships was sentenced to prison.

Judge Yoon Hye-jung of the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Division 10 announced that she sentenced Lee Mo (40), a staff member indicted on charges of embezzlement in the course of duty, to 8 months in prison and ordered immediate detention.

Lee was in charge of student welfare at a private university located in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. From 2012 to 2018, while handling the duties, Lee arbitrarily withdrew a total of over 420 million won 136 times from the account where students' tuition fees were deposited and used it personally.

Since 2013, Lee is also accused of withdrawing about 48 million won from an external scholarship account managed together with the tuition account, and about 78 million won from the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation account. The amounts Lee withdrew without permission ranged from as little as 300,000 won to as much as 9 million won at a time.

The court pointed out, "The defendant's crime is serious, and severe punishment is inevitable," adding, "Even though the defendant returned most of the embezzled money afterward, the funds were not properly used for six years, so it is difficult to see that the damage suffered by the students has been substantially restored."

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