Shin Sang-hoon, Former Shinhan Financial Group President, Found Guilty of Perjury in 'Namsan 300 Million' Case at Retrial
Suspended Prison Sentences for Former President Shin and Former Shinhan Bank President Lee Baeksoon
Acquitted in First and Second Trials, Supreme Court Overturns Ruling and Remands for Guilty Verdict
The court sentenced former Shinhan Financial Group President Shin Sang-hoon and former Shinhan Bank President Lee Baek-soon to suspended prison terms in the retrial of the illegal slush fund case related to perjury charges. Although they were acquitted in the first and second trials, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict and remanded the case, resulting in a reversal of the outcome.
On the 19th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Appeals Division 2-3 (Presiding Judges Cho Eun-ah, Kwak Jeong-han, and Kang Hee-seok) sentenced former President Shin and former President Lee, who were indicted for perjury during the trial, to six months in prison with a two-year suspension and four months in prison with a two-year suspension, respectively. This followed the Supreme Court's decision in February last year to remand the case to the Seoul Central District Court with a guilty verdict.
The court stated, "The parts of the original trial that acquitted the defendants appear to be incorrect according to the Supreme Court's remand ruling," and added, "The defendants, after taking an oath as witnesses, did not exercise their right to refuse to testify regarding their criminal acts and gave statements in response to the prosecutor's questions. Considering all the evidence from the original and current trials, it is clear that the defendants made false statements contrary to their memories as described in each indictment."
Former President Shin and former President Lee were indicted for giving false testimony during witness examination in November 2012 while being tried for the so-called 'Namsan 300 million won' case. The Namsan 300 million won case involves allegations that former President Lee, under the direction of former Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Ra Eung-chan, created illegal slush funds and then, in February 2008, delivered money to the camp of former lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk, the elder brother of former President Lee Myung-bak, as a congratulatory gift for the presidential election victory.
As a result of this case, both individuals were convicted in 2017 for embezzling approximately 260 million won from Shinhan Bank funds, receiving fines of 20 million won and prison sentences of one year and six months, respectively. The perjury charges arose during the trial of this case when they appeared as witnesses for the opposing party and testified about the process of fund creation and delivery.
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The first trial ruled that co-defendants in a conspiracy cannot be witnesses against each other, so perjury charges could not be established. The second trial acknowledged that co-defendants can be witnesses for each other but held that the defendant's status takes precedence over that of a witness, thus perjury charges could not be applied, resulting in acquittal. However, the Supreme Court ruled that "since the litigation procedures are separate, defendants are qualified to be witnesses against other co-defendants," and remanded the case.
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