"‘I’ll Give You Money, Say We Settled’ - 30s Sentenced to Prison for Perjury Coaching in Rape Victim Case"

A man in his 30s who demanded false testimony from a rape victim in exchange for tens of millions of won was sentenced to prison.

The Criminal Division 4 of Changwon District Court in Gyeongnam announced on the 18th that it sentenced Mr. A, a man in his 30s, who was indicted on charges of suborning perjury, to 10 months in prison.

According to the court, Mr. A was indicted in November 2019 on charges of raping Ms. B in an apartment in Haeundae-gu, Busan, in November 2017.

In September 2020, he met Ms. B at a cafe in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and proposed, "If you testify that the sexual intercourse was consensual, I will give you 40 million won."

He wrote and notarized a promissory note promising to cover all trial-related expenses, including lawyer fees and fines, if Ms. B was punished for perjury, and to prepare and provide a petition and a letter of non-prosecution if she was accused of false accusation.

Having received 40 million won in cash, Ms. B submitted a written statement by mail to the first trial court stating, "Under the influence of alcohol and the mood, it is true that the sexual intercourse was consensual."

She gave the same testimony when appearing before the prosecution and the court, and the first trial court acquitted Mr. A.

Changwon District Court, Gyeongnam.
Photo by Se-ryeong Lee

The investigative authorities, suspicious of Ms. B’s reversal of testimony, continued their investigation of her, and in the retrial held in November last year following the prosecution’s appeal, Ms. B admitted to perjury.

It is known that Ms. B testified as a witness at the appellate trial, saying, "I was shaken because he said he would give me 40 million won."

Mr. A was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison at the appellate trial in January, and the sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the appeal.

An additional 10 months in prison was added due to the charge of suborning perjury.

Ms. B was tried for perjury in April last year and was sentenced to 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation.

Mr. A claimed that he did not sexually assault Ms. B and that she was the one who first demanded money, but the court did not accept this.

The court stated, "If Mr. A’s claim that he did not commit rape and did not suborn perjury is true, then he was falsely accused, but it is hard to accept that he gave 40 million won to Ms. B, who falsely accused him."

It added, "The content of the false testimony is a key issue in this case, and suborning perjury is a crime that undermines the proper exercise of the state’s criminal authority and must be severely punished."

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