Foreigners' Hospital Established Amid MERS and THAAD Crises... Hospital Director Found Not Guilty of Rent Arrears Fraud

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A hospital director who was prosecuted for fraud for failing to pay over 200 million won in rent with the false promise of "I will repay once the business stabilizes" was acquitted.

The court ruled that it was difficult to see the intention to deceive the victims from the beginning, as the hospital only experienced unexpected management difficulties due to the consecutive outbreaks of MERS and the THAAD crisis while trying to expand its business such as a "foreigners-only hospital," and therefore the fraud charge was not established.

According to the legal community on the 22nd, Judge Lee Gwang-yeol of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 23 recently acquitted plastic surgery hospital director A, who was indicted on fraud charges.

Earlier, A, who operated a plastic surgery hospital in Gangnam-gu, Seoul in 2016, was prosecuted on charges of fraud for deceiving landlords by saying, "Although my short-term financial situation has become difficult, I plan to expand my business and enter China. Once the business stabilizes, funds will come in, so if you postpone the payment date, I will repay everything," when he was on the verge of having his lease contract terminated due to more than two missed rent payments, and continued not to pay, thereby obtaining approximately 230 million won in property benefits.

The prosecution judged that he had no intention or ability to pay the rent even if the payment period was extended from the beginning. Under current criminal law, fraud is established when "a person deceives another to receive delivery of property or obtain property benefits." Here, deception means an act of misleading others.

However, the court ruled, "There is insufficient evidence to see that the defendant deceived the victims," and acquitted him.

In fact, it was confirmed during the trial that A had established the hospital to attract foreign patients and received an investment of over 400 million won from Chinese investors, but suffered losses in the early days of opening due to the MERS outbreak in 2016 that blocked foreign entries. Furthermore, it was revealed that A’s plan to establish a joint hospital locally by signing an agreement with a hospital in China was canceled in 2017 due to the THAAD crisis.

The court stated, "Although the defendant experienced difficulties in operating the hospital for these reasons, it can be acknowledged that he made efforts to pay the overdue rent," and "Based on the evidence submitted by the prosecution alone, it is difficult to recognize that A deceived the victims."

Meanwhile, the prosecution appealed against this ruling.

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