Logistics Center Employee Sentenced to 2 Years for Stealing 700 Million Won Worth of Cell Phones to Raise Jeonse Deposit

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] An employee who stole mobile phones worth about 700 million won from a logistics center of a famous online distribution company to prepare a jeonse deposit was sentenced to prison in the first trial.

The Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 3 (Judge Lee Yoo-young) sentenced Lee (32), who was tried on theft charges, to two years in prison on the 1st.

The court also ordered Lee to return the 140 million won in cash seized to the victim company A.

Lee was indicted on charges of stealing one pallet of cargo loaded with mobile phones worth 784 million won from the metropolitan logistics center of the famous online distribution company A on June 3 last year while working as an inbound and outbound manager. He reportedly took the stolen mobile phones home and resold them for about 500 million won, using 255 million won of that to prepare a jeonse house.

The court recognized Lee’s guilt, stating, "He abused his position as a manager to steal high-priced mobile phones, showing a bad nature of the crime." It added, "Even considering the absence of prior criminal records as a favorable factor, the amount of damage is huge, and since he has not been forgiven by the victim, a heavy sentence is inevitable," explaining the sentencing reasons.

Earlier, the prosecution requested a three-year prison sentence for Lee, stating, "Even adding the 140 million won in seized cash and the 280 million won Lee deposited with the court after canceling the jeonse contract, more than 300 million won of the damage has not been recovered."

In response, Lee’s side said, "We sincerely regret causing damage to the company," but argued, "Company A did not provide a substantial salary increase to the defendant who worked diligently for two years, and also did not fulfill the defendant’s request to prepare a resting area for forklift operators under his management."

They continued, "The defendant committed the crime impulsively due to dissatisfaction with Company A and the overlapping situation of needing to find a house," asking for leniency.

A representative of Company A said, "Company A is the victim of the theft crime," and added, "We already provide resting areas for forklift operators at the logistics center, and the crime cannot be justified by the claim of low wages."

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