Former Police Officer Sentenced to Six Years in Second Trial for Taking 200 Million Won in Bribes to Quash Case

"Severely Damaged Public Trust in the Fairness of Investigations"

A former police officer who was prosecuted for accepting bribes worth around 200 million won from a suspect in exchange for quashing a case has received a prison sentence again in the second trial.

Seoul Central District Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On June 5, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 15-2 (Presiding Judge Won Ikseon) sentenced former police officer Jeong, who was indicted on charges including bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes, to six years in prison and a fine of approximately 250 million won, the same as in the first trial. The order to forfeit 251.5 million won was also upheld. Loan broker A, who gave the bribe to Jeong, was also sentenced to two years in prison, the same as in the first trial.

The court stated regarding Jeong, "The severity of the crime is high and it has severely damaged public trust in the fairness of investigations, making it highly blameworthy," adding, "There is a need for strict punishment."

Jeong, who worked as the head of an investigation team at Uijeongbu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, was indicted on charges of demanding money from a suspect under investigation for fraud between June 2020 and February 2021, promising to ensure non-prosecution of all cases, and receiving a total of 211.2 million won in 22 installments.

Jeong was known to have demanded money by sending messages such as, "Give me the money today. I will make sure everything is not prosecuted," and "From next year, investigative authority will be independent and, with the new system, it will be your world (referring to the suspect)."

It was found that, in return for receiving the money, Jeong had cases related to the suspect's fraud (16 cases based on the complainant) transferred and reassigned from other police stations, then either decided not to refer them for prosecution or forwarded them with a recommendation of non-prosecution.

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