Suspicions of 'Samopfund' in Jo Beom-dong's Supreme Court Appeal... First Supreme Court Ruling on the Jo Guk Family

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The Supreme Court is set to deliver its first ruling on the allegations of private equity fund investment involving former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk. This ruling is also expected to impact the trial of Professor Jung Kyung-shim, the spouse of former Minister Cho.

On the 30th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Noh Jeong-hee) will conduct the appellate hearing for Cho Beom-dong, who was indicted on charges including embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Cho is a key figure in the private equity fund allegations involving the Cho family, accused of effectively operating the asset management firm Coring Private Equity (Coring PE) and committing crimes. While managing Coring PE, Cho is charged with acquiring the KOSDAQ-listed company WFM and embezzling 7.2 billion KRW of company funds.

The first and second trials found him guilty of embezzling 7.2 billion KRW and sentenced him to four years in prison along with a fine of 50 million KRW. Notably, the appellate court also ruled guilty on the charge of false reporting related to the 'Blue Fund' investment, which was acquitted in the first trial (violation of the Capital Markets Act).

The Supreme Court's decision is inevitably expected to influence Professor Jung's trial as well. The first and second trial courts that handled Cho’s case regarded the private equity fund money from Professor Jung not as 'investment funds' but as 'loans,' concluding that she did not conspire in the private equity fund-related crimes.

Meanwhile, the appellate decision on Kim Kyung-rok, a private banker (PB) at a securities firm who acted as the asset manager for former Minister Cho and Professor Jung, is also expected soon. Kim was indicted for hiding three hard drives from Professor Jung’s personal computer at her residence and one computer from her office at Dongyang University when the private equity fund investigation intensified in August 2019. The first and second trials sentenced Kim to eight months in prison with a two-year probation.

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