Prosecutors Demand Guilty Verdict for Jo Guk's Fifth Cousin Nephew

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The prosecution requested the court to recognize the accomplice relationship between Cho Beom-dong, the fifth cousin of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, and Professor Jeong Gyeong-shim of Dongyang University, and to sentence him guilty.

On the 7th, the prosecution presented the reasons for appeal containing this content at the second appeal trial of Cho, held under the jurisdiction of the 11th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Gu Ja-heon, Kim Bong-won, and Lee Eun-hye).

On that day, the prosecution emphasized, "Cho colluded with the spouse of the highest authority, the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, mobilized criminal means to attract a large amount of investment funds, and used his position and background to promote a capital-free merger and acquisition," calling it "a new form of collusion between politics and business."

Previously, the first trial did not recognize the accomplice relationship between Professor Jeong and Cho regarding charges of embezzlement in the course of business and false reporting to the Financial Services Commission.

While explaining the reasons for appeal, the prosecution argued that there were errors in the parts judged as not guilty in the first trial and pointed out that the sentencing was too lenient and unfair. Especially regarding the charges of violating the Capital Market Act, which resulted in acquittal, the prosecution stated, "The first trial acknowledged the fact that Professor Jeong and Cho agreed to invest only 1.4 billion won but mentioned the possibility of investment by Professor Jeong or a third party. However, this brought in circumstances after the crime was established, giving special treatment to Professor Jeong compared to ordinary people."

On the other hand, the defense attorney appealed to reconsider the charges for which guilt was sentenced in the first trial. Cho's lawyer emphasized, "It was excessive to judge him as the decision-maker in the first trial. Ultimately, the final decision-maker is Chairman Lee Bong-jik."

Meanwhile, Cho was indicted on charges including operating the private equity fund management company Korink Private Equity (Korink PE) in practice, acquiring a KOSDAQ-listed company without capital, attempting to boost stock prices through false disclosures, and embezzling company funds.

The first trial recognized most of Cho's 'corporate raider crime' charges as guilty and sentenced him to four years in prison and a fine of 50 million won. However, regarding the private equity fund suspicions involving former Minister Cho and Professor Jeong, only some were judged guilty.

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