"If You Provide Funds, I'll Deliver Big Profits"... Former Level 3 Public Official Who Committed Fraud Ultimately Sentenced to Prison

[Image source = Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] A former senior official of Chungbuk Province was sentenced to prison for embezzling a large sum of money by promising high returns through real estate development and submitting forged real estate documents to the court.

On the 15th, Nam Seong-woo, presiding judge of the Criminal Division 1 at Cheongju District Court, announced that he sentenced Mr. A (67), a former level 3 public official of Chungbuk Province, to 2 years and 4 months in prison on charges of fraud and forgery of private documents.

Mr. A, who retired in 2011 as a level 3 public official at Chungbuk Provincial Government, was prosecuted for deceiving an acquaintance, Mr. B, from June to July 2018 by saying, "If you provide funds, I will develop land I own in Jecheon and generate large profits," and embezzling a total of 178.79 million KRW over 15 installments.

Additionally, he failed to repay money borrowed from his younger brother’s wife, Ms. C, and in March 2017, at a bank in Cheongju, Chungbuk, he forged a trust confirmation document in Ms. C’s name stating that "the actual owner of the apartment is A, and C, the registered owner, cannot exercise property rights at will," and carelessly stamped Ms. C’s seal on the document.

It was investigated that when pressured by Ms. C to repay the debt, he fabricated such a document while repaying the debt by transferring ownership of his apartment.

In November of the same year, without Ms. C’s consent, he leased the apartment to Mr. D, and when Ms. C filed a lawsuit for building eviction, he submitted the forged document to the court.

Mr. A, who had many debts, committed these crimes as it became difficult to repay them even with his public official pension and rental income.

Judge Nam stated, "The victim’s mental and economic suffering is considerable as proper measures to restore damages caused by the fraud have not been taken," and added, "Forgery and use of private documents is a crime that undermines public trust in documents that form the foundation of society and the safety of transactions, and thus requires strict punishment."

Mr. A appealed the ruling.

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