Reporters Who Took Hundreds of Millions in Subsidies and Threatened Officials Sentenced to Prison

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Three local newspaper reporters who embezzled tens of millions of won in agricultural business closure support funds through fraudulent means or threatened public officials were sentenced to suspended prison terms.

According to the legal community on the 13th, Jeon Il-ho, chief judge of the Criminal Division 7 at Gwangju District Court, sentenced A (51), a reporter for a daily newspaper in Jeonnam region, to 5 years in prison on charges including violation of the Subsidy Management Act.

Another daily newspaper reporter B (50), who was tried for obstruction of official duties, was sentenced to 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspension, and another media person C (65) was sentenced to 8 months in prison.

A was charged with submitting a forged sales confirmation to Gokseong-gun, Jeonnam, pretending to have disposed of all 2,560 goats from June to October 2019, thereby embezzling approximately 407 million won in Free Trade Agreement (FTA) business closure support funds.

According to the so-called 'FTA Agriculture and Fisheries Act,' only those who raised goats before December 12, 2014, and disposed of all of them by October 2019 to close their business are eligible to receive closure support funds for that item.

A and B are also accused of threatening a responsible public official by saying, "I will report this in the newspaper and will not leave it alone," after failing to be selected for the '2nd Gokseong-gun Small Business Support Middle-aged Startup Fund Support Project' in March last year.

Im is accused of becoming angry when his post on March 25 last year on the Gokseong-gun Office homepage 'Gokseong Talk' was moved to 'Gokseong Newspaper Box,' slamming his fist on the table and threatening to write malicious articles, claiming he would request an audit.

Judge Jeon stated, "Defendant A denies the crime and shows no remorse, and the damage has not been restored," adding, "Using his position as a reporter for personal gain, the crime is serious, and strict punishment is inevitable."

However, he explained the sentencing by saying, "Considering that some crimes were confessed and the victim public official has pleaded for leniency."

Regarding B and C, he said, "The crimes using the reporter status are serious," but also "considered the victim public official's plea for leniency, the defendants' age, and circumstances."

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