Defendant in '7 Billion Won Bribery to Police Officer' Released Due to Public Officials Crime Investigation Unit's Clerical Error

"Documents Not Delivered to Prosecutor's Office Due to Staff Error"
Public Officials Crime Investigation Unit Considering Disciplinary Action

It has been confirmed that a defendant, who was sentenced to prison for delivering bribes worth about 700 million won in a police high-ranking officer bribery case—known as the first case recognized by the Public Officials Crime Investigation Unit (Public Officials Crime Investigation Unit)—was recently released due to a mistake by the unit.

Gwacheon City Public Officials Crime Investigation Agency, Gyeonggi Province. Yonhap News Agency

According to the legal community on June 10, the Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Lee Seunghan) granted bail last month to businessman A, who was charged with offering bribes.

From June 2020 to February 2023, A was indicted on charges of delivering bribes totaling about 700 million won to police officer Kim, along with requests to introduce officers in charge regarding business and criminal cases. In the first trial, A was sentenced to three years in prison and was immediately taken into custody in court.

While the appeal trial was underway last month, A requested bail from the court. In accordance with current procedures, the court requested a written opinion from the Public Officials Crime Investigation Unit, but the unit did not submit one. When no prosecutor from the unit appeared at the bail hearing, the court ultimately granted bail based solely on the defendant's arguments, without any objection from the prosecution.

A representative of the Public Officials Crime Investigation Unit stated, "Due to a clerical error, the documents sent by the court were not delivered to the prosecutor's office," adding that disciplinary action against the responsible staff member is under consideration.

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