'Gyeonggi-do Corporate Card Misuse Allegation' Bae Mo-ssi, First Trial Verdict Today

The first trial verdict for Bae Mo, a former Grade 5 special-position public official at Gyeonggi Provincial Government, who was indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act in connection with the 'corporate card misuse suspicion' involving Kim Hye-kyung, spouse of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, will be delivered on the 10th.

Bae Mo, a key figure in the 'corporate card misuse suspicion' case involving Kim Hye-kyung, spouse of Lee Jae-myung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Criminal Division 12 of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Hwang In-seong) will hold a sentencing hearing on the same day for Bae, who was indicted without detention on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.

Bae is accused of committing a donation act under the Public Official Election Act by having the meal expenses of three people, excluding Kim Hye-kyung, amounting to 78,000 won, paid with the Gyeonggi Provincial Government corporate card during a meal at a restaurant in Seoul on August 2, 2021, where Kim dined with three party-related personnel.

He is also charged with making false statements under the Public Official Election Act in January 2022 when allegations of Kim’s 'corporate card misuse' and 'illegal protocol' were raised, by denying that he handled private matters for the candidate’s family.

Through the Democratic Party’s election campaign public relations team, Bae issued an apology stating that "(the use of the corporate card) was not ordered by anyone." However, the prosecution judged all of Bae’s claims to be false.

Bae’s side admitted that he used the corporate card arbitrarily and performed some tasks related to Kim, but argued that the prosecution’s claim that Bae was privately hired by the Gyeonggi Provincial Government and acted as a proxy for Kim is not true.

Earlier, on June 19, during the closing arguments of this case, the prosecution requested a one-year prison sentence for Bae. In his final statement, Bae said, "When media reports came out saying I was privately hired and worked without a desk at the provincial government office, I felt all my work was being denied, so I wanted to appeal that 'I was not privately hired.' I did not make false statements with the intention of influencing the election."

Meanwhile, Bae is also accused of embezzlement in office for paying Kim’s personal meal expenses with the Gyeonggi corporate card or illegally obtaining prescriptions under other people’s names and delivering them to Kim from July 2018 to September 2021. The prosecution is still investigating this part. Kim is also a subject of the investigation.

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