'Namsan 300 Million Won' Perjury Charges Against Former Shinhan Financial Secretaries, Guilty in First Trial

Former Shinhan Financial Group President Shin Sang-hoon (left) and former Shinhan Bank President Lee Baek-soon. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] In the trial related to the so-called 'Namsan 300 million won' suspicion, former Shinhan Financial Group secretaries who were indicted for perjury were sentenced to fines in the first trial.

On the morning of the 31st, Judge Yang Soeun of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 sentenced Park, who was indicted for perjury, to a fine of 10 million won, and Lee to a fine of 3 million won. Seo, who was also indicted, was acquitted.

The court stated, "Park's previous testimonies were largely discredited in the related case's appeal trial," and "It appears that he led several meetings and instructed to respond to the investigation by stating that 'Shin Sang-hoon (former president of Shinhan Financial Group) neither received prior reports nor gave instructions' to protect Shin Sang-hoon."

Furthermore, "Although Lee distinctly remembers paying the lawyer's success fee under Shin Sang-hoon's instructions, he testified that the fee was paid under the instructions of Wi Seong-ho (former president of Shinhan Bank), not Shin Sang-hoon," the court ruled. However, due to lack of evidence, some charges against Park and Lee were judged as not guilty.

Regarding Seo, the court said, "Since the testimony was given six years after serving as secretary general, it would have been difficult to remember details," and "Based on the evidence submitted by the prosecution, it was not proven beyond reasonable doubt that Seo made false statements contrary to his memory, thus there is no proof of crime," and acquitted him.

The Namsan 300 million won case involves allegations that shortly after the 17th presidential election, former president Lee Baeksun, under the direction of former Shinhan Financial Group chairman Ra Eung-chan, created illegal slush funds and in February 2008 handed over 300 million won as a congratulatory gift for election victory to former lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk, elder brother of former President Lee Myung-bak, in Namsan. This surfaced during the investigation of the 'Shinhan incident' in 2010, which involved conflicts over Shinhan Financial Group's management rights.

Former president Shin is accused of perjury for ordering the preservation of the Namsan 300 million won in advance but testifying falsely that he was informed afterward and that the increase in management advisory fees in 2008 was due to the attendance of honorary chairman Lee Hee-geon at the presidential inauguration ceremony. Former bank president Lee is accused of false testimony for claiming he was unaware of the existence of honorary chairman Lee Hee-geon's management advisory fees until just before Shinhan Bank's lawsuit in September 2010, despite knowing about it in April 2009.

Park and two others, who were secretaries to former president Shin, were indicted for perjury in the related first trial of former president Shin and former bank president Lee.

Meanwhile, former president Shin and former bank president Lee were indicted for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement) and in 2017, the Supreme Court confirmed fines of 20 million won and a 1 year and 6 months prison sentence with 2 years probation, respectively. Both were also indicted for perjury in the trial and were acquitted in the first trial, currently awaiting the appeal trial.

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