4-Year Prison Sentence for Samopund Fund Allegation: Cho Beom-dong, Nephew of Cho Kuk... First Final Verdict for Cho Family (Comprehensive)

Conviction for Embezzlement and Other Charges in First and Second Trials Confirmed by Supreme Court

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] Cho Beom-dong, a key figure in the private equity fund investment allegations involving former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, has been sentenced to four years in prison by the Supreme Court. This is the first final ruling related to misconduct allegations involving Cho’s family.

On the 30th, the Supreme Court’s 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Noh Jeong-hee) upheld the lower court’s ruling sentencing Cho, the fifth cousin of former Minister Cho Kuk, to four years in prison and a fine of 50 million KRW on charges including embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Cho was indicted for committing crimes while effectively operating the asset management company Korink Private Equity (Korink PE), a central figure in the private equity fund allegations involving Cho Kuk’s family. He is accused of acquiring the KOSDAQ-listed company WFM through Korink PE and embezzling 7.2 billion KRW of company funds.

Both the first and second trials found him guilty of embezzling 7.2 billion KRW and sentenced him to four years in prison and a fine of 50 million KRW. Notably, the appellate court also found him guilty of false reporting related to the 'Blue Fund' investment, which was acquitted in the first trial, under the Capital Markets Act. The Supreme Court agreed, stating there was no error in the appellate court’s judgment regarding the establishment of the Capital Markets Act violation, the intent to unlawfully gain through embezzlement, and the principle of legality.

The Supreme Court’s ruling is expected to influence Professor Jeong’s trial as well. While the Supreme Court recognized most of Cho’s private equity fund-related criminal charges as guilty, it did not acknowledge a conspiracy with Professor Jeong in the main offenses. This once again drew a line under suspicions that the case involved 'power-type crimes' with the involvement of Cho Kuk’s family. Previously, the first and second trial courts that handled Cho’s case viewed Professor Jeong’s private equity fund money as a 'loan' rather than an 'investment.'

However, the court did acknowledge a conspiracy regarding the allegation that after Cho Kuk was nominated as minister and various suspicions arose, Cho instructed Korink PE employees to delete documents containing the names of Professor Jeong and his siblings.

Meanwhile, the appellate decision on Kim Kyung-rok, a private banker (PB) who acted as the asset manager for former Minister Cho and Professor Jeong, is expected soon. Kim was indicted for hiding three hard drives from Professor Jeong’s personal computer at his home and one computer from his 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 suspended sentence.

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