Park Suhong's Older Brother Sentenced to 2 Years for Embezzlement... Sister-in-Law Found Not Guilty

Entertainer Park Su-hong (53)'s older brother, Park Jin-hong (55), who was indicted on charges of embezzling tens of billions of won from Park's personal funds and the agency's funds, was sentenced to prison in the first trial. Park's wife, Lee (53), who was also indicted, was acquitted.

Broadcaster Park Soo-hong is making a statement while appearing as a witness at the continuation trial of his elder brother, who was indicted and detained on embezzlement charges on the afternoon of March 15 last year at the Seoul Western District Court.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Criminal Division 11 of the Seoul Western District Court (Chief Judge Bae Seong-jung) sentenced Park to two years in prison on charges of embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes for diverting company money and his younger brother’s personal funds while managing Park Su-hong’s management from 2011 to 2021.

However, the court did not order detention, stating that there was little risk of flight or evidence tampering as Park cooperated sincerely during the investigation and trial.

The court stated, "The defendant abused the fact that it was a one-person or family company to use company funds for personal purposes such as hiring a private lawyer and paying apartment management fees. This is an illegal act that goes beyond tax avoidance to tax evasion, but the defendant denies most of the offenses and shows little effort to restore damages to the victim company," explaining the sentencing reasons.

The court found Park guilty of using the entertainment company's funds for personal purposes and using corporate funds to pay for private lawyer fees. It also ruled guilty on the charge of embezzling 1,906,610,000 won by paying cash as salary to employees who did not actually work and then receiving the money back.

However, regarding the charge of using about 1.07 billion won of corporate funds when the down payment was insufficient for purchasing commercial real estate in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, under his and his mother’s names, the court acquitted him, reasoning that the ownership of the commercial property was later transferred to the entertainment agency. The court also acquitted him of embezzling 100 million won of corporate funds for real estate registration costs.

Lee, Park’s wife and Park Su-hong’s sister-in-law, who was indicted together, was acquitted.

The court stated about Lee, "Considering that Park’s parents, younger brother, and family members were registered as CEOs and in other positions, it is difficult to see that Lee was solely involved in company affairs. It cannot be said that it was proven beyond reasonable doubt that Lee conspired with Park in the embezzlement."

Park was indicted on charges of embezzling company and personal funds over ten years while managing Park Su-hong’s management from 2011. Previously, the prosecution requested prison sentences of seven years for Park and three years for Lee during the closing arguments.

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