'Refund Crisis' Merge Point Operator Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison... Additional Charge of Evidence Forgery Instruction

Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison in Second Trial for 'Fraud Charges'

Kwon Bo-gun (36), Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Merge Plus, the operator of Merge Point who was sentenced to 8 years in prison for causing a massive refund crisis, has been additionally sentenced to 1 year in prison for instructing evidence forgery.

On the 10th, Judge Kim Jeong-gi of the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 7 sentenced Kwon, who was charged with instructing evidence forgery, to 1 year in prison. Choi, who was charged with perjury, was sentenced to 6 months in prison with a 1-year probation and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.

In October 2021, Kwon embezzled 600 million won of Merge Plus funds for Choi’s child’s study abroad expenses and had Choi prepare a false loan agreement as if it were a borrowing relationship. During Kwon’s fraud trial held last year, Choi gave perjured testimony favorable to Kwon, claiming that the loan agreement was made before the investigation of the case.

The court stated the sentencing reasons for Kwon, saying, "The culpability is not light," but also considered "(Kwon’s) remorse and the fact that the forged evidence did not affect the criminal trial outcome."

Regarding Choi, the court also stated, "Although the culpability is not light, it was considered that the crime was committed at the request of Kwon, a church member." In the trial held last March, Choi admitted the charges and appealed, saying, "Please consider that the crime was committed with the thought of helping a church member."

Previously, Kwon was sentenced to 8 years in prison in the second trial held in June on charges including fraud. Kwon Nam-hee, CEO of Merge Plus, who was indicted together and sentenced to 4 years in prison, was also sentenced to 4 years for the same charges. They were prosecuted for selling Merge Money worth 252.1 billion won to 570,000 consumers despite facing a business suspension crisis due to accumulated company deficits from May 2020 to August 2021.

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