Former LH Employee Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Land Speculation Using Insider Information
A former employee of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) was sentenced to prison for land speculation using internal development information.
The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) on the 31st dismissed the appeal of former LH employee A, who was charged with violating the Act on the Prevention of Corruption and the Establishment and Operation of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, and upheld the original sentence of two years in prison. Acquaintances B and C, who were involved in A's crime, were also sentenced to one year and six months and one year in prison, respectively.
A was prosecuted on charges of purchasing four plots totaling approximately 17,000㎡ in Noonsadong, Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do, for 2.5 billion KRW around February 2017, using information obtained through work while working in urban development at LH's Gwangmyeong-Siheung Business Headquarters. It is known that A engaged in land speculation using internal information from the first meeting he attended, which stated that "LH will directly implement the project to develop the settlement maintenance area." According to the investigation by authorities, the land price at the time rose to about 10 billion KRW.
The first trial acquitted A, stating that the crime was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In response, the prosecution added a preliminary charge in the second trial, regarding the "integrated development plan for the entire special management area, including not only the settlement maintenance area but also some reserved land," as internal information. A preliminary charge is an additional charge prepared in case the main charge is not accepted.
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The second trial accepted this and overturned the first trial's verdict, sentencing A to two years in prison. B and C were sentenced to one year and six months and one year in prison, respectively. The court stated, "The defendants acquired real estate using confidential information obtained through their work for the purpose of making speculative profits. This damages public trust in public officials and causes significant social harm by encouraging speculation using illegal information."
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