Court gives suspended term to ex-CEO who sent 6.6 bln won to fake shaman

A Seoul appeals court has sentenced a former electrical appliance company chief executive surnamed Kim to three years in prison suspended for four years on charges of embezzling about 6.6 billion won of company funds, overturning a first-instance prison term. Yonhap and Maeil Business both reported that Seoul High Court Criminal Division 4-1, with judges Kim In-gyeom, Seong Ji-yong and Jeon Ji-won presiding, convicted him under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. [ 1 , 2 ]

According to Maeil Business, the money was sent to a shaman called “Jo Mal-rye” who did not exist. The outlet reported that Kim's then-wife, surnamed Yoo, met a couple surnamed Jang and Sim in 2017 through parents at their child's elementary school, and that Jang introduced the shaman in early 2018 as someone who read the fortunes of high-ranking figures. Kim and his wife communicated with the shaman only by text message and never met or spoke to her, Maeil Business reported; the messages came from Jang and Sim. [ 2 ]

Maeil Business reported that Jang and Sim told Kim in January 2019 that the shaman wanted money for an altar and that he should take it from the company. Kim moved company funds to his own account without board approval and forwarded them to Jang or Sim, the outlet said, including 200 million won that month after telling an employee he needed money urgently and would repay it within two days or by the end of the month. The transfers ran from January 2019 to April 2020 and totalled 6.587 billion won, according to both outlets. [ 1 , 2 ]

The appeals court cited Kim's psychological subjection to the couple, his compensation of the losses and the victim company's position in reducing the sentence. Yonhap reported that the court considered that he had been psychologically dominated by the couple for eight years, that he wrote several letters of reflection after realising he had been subjected to so-called gaslighting, that he compensated the damage by handing over his shares in the victim company, and that the company said it did not want him punished. Maeil Business reported that the court also found that most of the embezzled money had been used by Jang and Sim, and that this had to be weighed in setting his sentence. [ 1 , 2 ]

Maeil Business reported that the first-instance court had sentenced him to prison, saying he should have fulfilled his role and responsibilities in managing company funds rather than following what he was told were a shaman's instructions. The appeals court accepted the defence argument that the sentence was too heavy, while stating that the crime was by no means light given the amount involved, according to the outlet. [ 1 , 2 ]

Jang and Sim were arrested and indicted on fraud and extortion charges under the same law and were each sentenced to eight years in prison in a first-instance ruling in July, Yonhap reported. [ 1 ]

The two outlets differ on the timing of the appeal ruling: Maeil Business said it was delivered on the 11th of the previous month, while Yonhap described it only as recent. They also describe the employer differently, with Yonhap calling it a home appliance maker and Maeil Business an electrical appliance manufacturer. [ 1 , 2 ]