Prosecution Completes Recovery of 6.3 Billion Won in Forfeiture through Choi Seo-won's Deposit Payment

Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil). [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The prosecution has completed the confiscation of the fines imposed on Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil), who received a final Supreme Court ruling in the ‘state manipulation’ case.

According to the prosecution on the 16th, the Enforcement Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office recently completed the confiscation of 6,336,760,000 KRW in fines imposed on Choi from her deposited funds. The confiscated money was transferred to the national treasury in accordance with relevant laws.

Earlier, on the 11th, the prosecution requested the court to disburse about 6.3 billion KRW of the 7.8 billion KRW deposited by Choi as fines. The next day, they sent Choi a payment order demanding that she pay a fine of 20 billion KRW by the 12th of next month.

This action by the prosecution was a follow-up measure after the Supreme Court confirmed the original sentence that imposed fines and confiscation on Choi in the final appeal trial.

The Supreme Court’s 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheol-sang) on the 11th upheld the original ruling that found Choi guilty of abuse of power, obstruction of official duties, bribery, and other charges, sentencing her to 18 years in prison, a fine of 20 billion KRW, and confiscation of about 6.3 billion KRW.

The prosecution plans to initiate compulsory execution on Choi’s real estate and deposits if she fails to pay the fine by the final deadline of the 12th of next month. If the fine is still not recovered through this process, Choi may be detained in a labor camp for up to an additional three years beyond her 18-year prison sentence.

Previously, the special prosecutor team led by Park Young-soo revealed through investigation that the confirmed assets of Choi’s family, including real estate, amounted to 273 billion KRW.

In 2017, the court accepted the special prosecutor team’s request to preserve confiscation of about 7.8 billion KRW and prohibited the disposal of the Misung Building land and building owned by Choi.

Choi deposited about 7.8 billion KRW with the court to lift the prohibition on disposing of the building. It is reported that the Misung Building was later sold for over 10 billion KRW.

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