Former Suwon University President Lee In-su, Confirmed 10 Million Won Fine for Embezzlement of School Funds

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The fine against Lee In-su, former president of Suwon University, who was prosecuted for improperly accounting for university funds, has been finalized.

On the 13th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Park Sang-ok) announced that it upheld the lower court's ruling sentencing Lee, who was charged with violating the Private School Act and embezzlement in the course of duty, to a fine of 10 million won.

Lee had been on trial for using about 75 million won of university funds to pay legal fees for appointing a legal representative in a defamation case filed against dismissed professors from 2011 to 2013. He was also accused of accounting for approximately 620 million won in revenue earned from the sale of liberal arts textbooks by Suwon University's publishing department from 2010 to 2013 as income for the school corporation Goun Academy’s business operations, rather than as university funds.

The first trial court recognized most of Lee’s charges and sentenced him to four months in prison with a one-year probation.

The appellate court upheld the guilty verdict regarding the use of university funds for legal fees in the defamation lawsuit against dismissed professors, consistent with the first trial. However, it acquitted him of the charge of improperly accounting for the liberal arts textbook revenue (violation of the Private School Act) that the first trial court had partially found him guilty of, reducing the sentence to a fine of 10 million won.

Although, as president, he had the duty to manage the liberal arts textbook revenue, it was difficult to see him as the principal actor or involved in the act of depositing the income into the corporate account instead of the university fund account, and it could not be definitively concluded that he had awareness of illegality. The Supreme Court agreed with the appellate court’s judgment.

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