Accounting Staff Who Embezzled KRW 2.3 Billion Over 6 Years Gets Sentence Reduced in Appeal

An accounting employee who embezzled approximately KRW 2.3 billion in company funds over a period of about six years to spend on expensive private education and luxury shopping has had her prison sentence reduced in her appellate trial.

According to the legal community today, the 14th Criminal Division of the Suwon High Court (Presiding Judge Heo Yang-yun) overturned the lower court's sentence of six years in prison and sentenced the defendant, a woman in her 50s indicted on charges of embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes and occupational breach of trust, to five years in prison.

The defendant was indicted for embezzling a total of approximately KRW 2.03 billion by transferring funds to her own account across 260 instances between October 2018 and October 2024, while working in accounting and bookkeeping at a company in Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, starting in February 2011.

She also faced charges of breach of trust for privately using the company credit card 631 times to spend approximately KRW 340 million at places like department stores between January 2021 and October 2024.

Combined, the total amount from embezzlement and breach of trust reaches approximately KRW 2.37 billion.

Investigations revealed that the defendant lived a lavish lifestyle using the embezzled funds, such as residing in an expensive monthly-rent home, spending massive amounts on private education, and using the corporate card at department stores to purchase goods and gift certificates ranging from KRW 1 million to KRW 15 million at a time.

Previously, the first-instance court sentenced her to six years in prison, pointing out that "considering the period, content, methods, frequency, and amount of damage, the criminal culpability is very heavy and the room for criticism is significant," adding that "she has not made efforts for victim recovery, prompting the victim company to petition for a severe punishment."

However, the appellate court slightly lowered the sentence, taking into account that the defendant admitted to her crimes, showed remorse, was a first-time offender, and that a portion of the damages had been restituted.

The appellate court noted, "The fact that the economic loss suffered by the victim company due to this crime is very large and yet victim recovery has not been properly achieved is an unfavorable factor."

However, the court stated, "We took favorable factors into consideration, such as the fact that partial victim recovery was achieved through the offset processing of approximately KRW 67 million in severance pay claims that the defendant appears to hold against the victim company, and that additional victim recovery is expected through her KRW 30 million deposit return claim and KRW 40 million child support claim."

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