Kwak Jeong-ki, a former police chief turned lawyer, has been convicted for accepting bribes from a private developer in exchange for covering up a police investigation into the Baekhyeon-dong development project.
On June 24, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court's sentence of 2 years and 6 months in prison, along with 4 years of probation, for Kwak, who was charged with violating the lawyer's law. The court also maintained a forfeiture order of 50 million won.
The court confirmed a fine of 10 million won and a forfeiture of 6.35 million won for police officer Park, who was also implicated in the case.
The Supreme Court stated, "There was no misunderstanding of the legal principles regarding the violation of the lawyer's law and the prohibition of solicitation that would have affected the judgment."
Kwak was indicted for receiving 50 million won in addition to a legal fee of 700 million won from Jeong Ba-ul, the chairman of Asia Developer, between June and July 2022. He was also accused of paying 4 million won to Park as a referral fee for introducing the case to him.
Kwak, who previously served as the head of the Special Investigation Division at the National Police Agency and as the head of the Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, was found to have taken on the case while Jeong was under police investigation related to the Baekhyeon-dong project.
The Baekhyeon-dong case involves allegations of preferential treatment for private companies during the development of the former Korea Food Research Institute site in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, from 2014 to 2017. Lee Jae-myung, who was the mayor of Seongnam at the time, has also been implicated in the investigation.
The first trial found Kwak guilty of paying Park a referral fee, imposing a fine of 10 million won. However, it ruled that the evidence for the additional 50 million won received from Jeong was insufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
In contrast, the appellate court overturned this decision, finding Kwak guilty of accepting the 50 million won. The court noted that Jeong's testimony was consistent and specific, with no contradictions. It also pointed out that while Kwak claimed the money was an additional legal fee, he had never amended or rewritten the lawyer's contract to reflect this, and the 50 million won was not accounted for like the regular legal fees.
The appellate court concluded, "It is recognized that Kwak received 50 million won in cash from Jeong under the pretext of lobbying and personnel matters related to the investigation," sentencing him to 2 years and 6 months in prison, 4 years of probation, and a forfeiture of 50 million won.
The court emphasized that Kwak's actions undermined public trust in law enforcement and perpetuated a negative perception of privilege for former officials.
Park faces charges for receiving money from Kwak as a referral fee, as well as for accepting bribes worth several hundred thousand won from a real estate brokerage operator and a construction company representative.
In a separate ruling in March, the Supreme Court acquitted Lim Jeong-hyeok, a former chief prosecutor, who was also charged with accepting bribes in connection with the Baekhyeon-dong investigation cover-up.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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