YouTuber Accused of Embezzling Donations for ‘Jeongin’ Acquitted in First Trial

A YouTuber who was prosecuted for embezzling donations collected to commemorate ‘Jeong-in,’ who died due to abuse by adoptive parents, was acquitted in the first trial.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 21st, Judge Lee Seok-jae of the Criminal Division 5 at the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office ruled on the 14th that Jeong (43) was not guilty of embezzlement and violations of the Act on the Collection and Use of Donations.

Jeong was indicted on charges of receiving donations through his YouTube channel from July 2021, claiming to create a memorial space for Jeong-in, and then using part of the funds for personal purposes.

Among the 16.33 million KRW in donations raised by Jeong, 9.095 million KRW was received under the name of establishing the ‘Jeong-in Gallery.’ Regarding allegations that Jeong embezzled 2.608 million KRW over 59 instances for expenses such as meals and communication fees, the court acquitted him considering that about 3.46 million KRW was already deposited in Jeong’s account when the fundraising began.

The charge of violating Article 16, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 1 of the Act on the Collection and Use of Donations, which requires registration with the competent authority when collecting donations exceeding 10 million KRW, was also not recognized. The court stated that since Jeong had uploaded other videos addressing political and social issues besides the Jeong-in case, “it cannot be concluded that the remaining funds, excluding the 9.095 million KRW received under the gallery establishment name, were raised for the same project.”

However, Jeong was fined 2 million KRW for spreading false information during a YouTube broadcast, including claims that a certain individual was expelled from a party due to sexual harassment or stalking issues (defamation and insult under the Information and Communications Network Act).

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