'Daughter who deceived father to transfer real estate title' sentenced to 1 year in prison with probation in trial

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[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] A daughter who deceived her father to transfer real estate ownership was found guilty in court.

The Seoul Western District Court Criminal Appeal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Hwang Soon-gyo) overturned the original verdict of not guilty and sentenced A (57), who was tried on charges of forgery of private documents and use of forged private documents, to one year in prison with a two-year probation, the court announced on the 26th.

A was accused of forging a gift contract and a power of attorney in January 2013 to transfer half of the land and a building with one basement floor and four above-ground floors, owned by her father, into her mother's name, and then registering the ownership transfer. At that time, A's father was 83 years old with poor eyesight and hearing, and A deceived him by saying, "If you get insurance, you can reduce taxes," to obtain his signature and seal on the gift contract and power of attorney.

A testified that she committed the crime because she judged that her father, who was undergoing a divorce lawsuit at the time, might dispose of the real estate, and she wanted to transfer half of the real estate ownership to her mother. However, after her father underwent major surgery due to a chronic illness and the family, including her mother, did not take care of him, she realized her mistake, confessed, and underwent investigation.

Based on A's confession, the first trial court stated, "It is difficult to recognize the credibility of the confession, and it is hard to acknowledge a high degree of probability regarding the criminal facts based solely on the evidence submitted by the prosecution," and acquitted her.

On the other hand, the appellate court judged A's confession to be credible, stating, "The defendant confessed after the original not guilty verdict, which was the most favorable result for her, and after both parents passed away and all sibling conflicts related to the real estate in question were resolved, she is now accepting punishment."

The court explained the sentencing, saying, "The crime is by no means light, as the defendant deceived her father, forged the gift contract and power of attorney, and completed the ownership transfer registration of the real estate using them," but added, "The defendant fully admitted her wrongdoing, sincerely reflected on it, and it appears that all disputes arising from this have also been resolved."

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