Former Public Official Receives Suspended Sentence for Collecting 25 Million Won in Condolence Money by Reporting Uncle's Death as Father's Death

Suspended Sentence of 2 Years with 4 Months Imprisonment Confirmed in Both First and Second Trials

A former public official who was prosecuted for deceiving colleagues and residents by falsely claiming an uncle's death as his father's and collecting 24.79 million won in condolence money was sentenced to a suspended prison term again in the second trial.

Seoul Eastern District Court
Photo by Yonhap News

The Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Appeal Division 1-3 (Presiding Judges So Byeong-seok, Jang Chan, Kim Chang-hyun) on the 26th sentenced Kim Mo (60), who was indicted on fraud charges, to four months in prison with a two-year suspension, the same as the original sentence.

The court stated the reason for sentencing, saying, "Since this was a deceptive act related to condolence money involving multiple victims, the nature of the crime is not light," and "We concluded that imposing a fine would not be appropriate."

While acknowledging that Kim admitted to the crime, showed remorse, and returned the money to most of the victims, the court judged, "The crime of misrepresenting an uncle's death as a father's death, posting it on the internal network of the resident center, and embezzling condolence money from numerous victims including local residents and related organization officials is of a serious nature."

Earlier, in January 2021, while working at a neighborhood resident center in Seoul, Kim posted a false obituary on the internal staff bulletin board, deceiving others by claiming an uncle's death as his father's. After the falsehood was revealed, he was reported to the district office in charge and was prosecuted for fraud, receiving a four-month prison sentence with a two-year suspension in the first trial last March.

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