Supreme Court: "Other Crimes Discovered During Sting Operation... Prosecution Filing Is Proper"

Supreme Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Supreme Court has ruled that it is lawful for investigative agencies conducting a sting operation to uncover and prosecute other crimes that were already taking place.

On the 18th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice No Taeak) announced that it overturned the lower court's dismissal of the indictment in the appeal trial of Mr. Lee, who was charged with violating the Game Industry Act, and remanded the case to the Incheon District Court.

Previously, Mr. Lee was prosecuted for operating a game center in Incheon from 2015 to 2016, where he exchanged game scores won by customers for cash. He was also charged with allowing customers to engage in gambling activities by facilitating the deduction and accumulation of game scores when customers bought and sold these scores among themselves.

In court, Mr. Lee's side argued, "We had no choice but to exchange game scores for cash due to the persistent demands of police officers disguised as customers." They claimed that the indictment was illegal because the investigative agency induced the criminal intent through a sting operation.

The first trial court stated, "It is difficult to consider that the criminal intent was induced by the investigative agency's sting operation," and sentenced Mr. Lee to one year in prison with a two-year probation. The court also ordered 80 hours of community service and a fine of 157 million won.

On the other hand, the second trial court dismissed the indictment. At that time, the court pointed out, "The police, who were conducting a covert investigation, caused a disturbance and continued to use abusive and threatening language after their request for currency exchange was refused," and stated, "This was a sting operation where the investigative agency used a scheme to induce criminal intent and apprehend the offender."

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal regarding the currency exchange charge but ordered a retrial and judgment on the charge of promoting gambling activities. The court stated, "During the undercover investigation to detect illegal currency exchange, the police received a membership card and accumulated game scores following the suggestion of a game center employee," and "The police did not actively request the issuance of membership cards or accumulation of game scores from the defendants, nor did they attempt to trade game scores."

Furthermore, the court added, "This is not a sting operation but merely the detection of crimes that were already occurring," and "The lower court erred in its understanding of the law regarding sting operations, which affected its judgment."

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