Civil Trial for Employee Embezzlement at Gyeyang Electric... Court Orders "20.8 Billion Won Compensation"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Kim Mo (35, male), who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in the first criminal trial for embezzling hundreds of billions of won from the company while working as an employee at Kyeongyang Electric, a KOSPI-listed company, also lost in a civil trial involving 20 billion won.

According to the court on the 23rd, the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 23 (Presiding Judge Kim Dongbin) ruled in favor of the plaintiff on the 21st in a damages claim lawsuit filed by Kyeongyang Electric against former employee Kim. The court ordered Kim to pay approximately 20.8489 billion won, which is the amount embezzled of about 24.6 billion won minus the amount already recovered by the company, wages, and retirement benefits, fully accepting the amount claimed by Kyeongyang Electric.

Kim, who is currently in custody, did not attend the damages trial. Kyeongyang Electric emphasized in court, "Since he confessed in the criminal case, there will probably be no special dispute."

The court made a 'judgment by confession' as Kim did not appear at the hearing, judging that he admitted the company's claims. Article 150 of the Civil Procedure Act stipulates that if a party does not appear at the hearing, the facts claimed by the opposing party can be deemed confessed.

Previously, Kim was prosecuted on charges of embezzlement for transferring a total of about 24.6 billion won from the company's account to his own account 925 times while working as a deputy manager in the finance team of the management support department at Kyeongyang Electric for six years from 2016, after losing a large amount of money due to gambling. This amount corresponded to 12.7% of Kyeongyang Electric's equity capital of 192.6 billion won.

Although he voluntarily returned 3.7 billion won of the embezzled money to the company, it was revealed that he entrusted about 500 million won worth of cryptocurrency to his ex-wife a few days before his arrest, leading to additional charges for violating the Act on the Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment. The embezzled funds were mostly squandered on investments in overseas cryptocurrency exchange futures options or stocks, British gambling site game fees, and living expenses.

In September, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of about 20.8 billion won in the first trial. The second trial is currently underway. Kyeongyang Electric’s stock trading was suspended when Kim’s criminal acts became known but resumed in mid-July.

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