'Gyeonggi-do Corporate Card Misuse Allegation' Bae Mo Sentenced to Suspended Prison Term in First Trial

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

In relation to the 'corporate card misuse suspicion' involving Kim Hye-kyung, spouse of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Bae, a former Grade 5 special-appointed public official at Gyeonggi Provincial Government, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act, was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial.

On the morning of the 10th, the Criminal Division 12 of Suwon District Court (Presiding Judge Hwang In-seong) sentenced Bae, who was indicted without detention for violating the prohibition of donation acts under the Public Official Election Act and false statement publication, to 10 months in prison with a 2-year suspension. He was also ordered to perform 160 hours of community service. The court recognized all of Bae's charges as guilty.

At the sentencing hearing on June 19, the prosecution requested the court to sentence Bae to one year in prison. 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 just wanted to appeal that 'it was not a private hiring,' and I did not make false statements with the intention of influencing the election."

Previously, Bae was accused of making a donation act under the Public Official Election Act by using the Gyeonggi Provincial Government corporate card to pay 78,000 won for the meal of three party-related personnel, excluding Kim Hye-kyung, at a restaurant in Seoul on August 2, 2021, where Kim dined with them.

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

Bae issued an apology through the Democratic Party's election campaign public relations team, 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 denied the prosecution's claims that he was privately hired by the Gyeonggi Provincial Government and acted as a proxy for Kim.

Meanwhile, Bae is also under investigation for allegedly 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 (breach of trust). This part is still under investigation by the prosecution. Kim is also a subject of the investigation.

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