SUWON, South Korea, Kim Man-bae, a key figure behind a scandal-ridden property development project in the Daejang-dong district of Seongnam, just south of Seoul, was sentenced by a court Wednesday to 2 1/2 years in prison on bribery charges.
The Suwon District Court handed down the sentence, finding Kim guilty of offering 80 million won (US$59,900) in bribes to former Seongnam City Council Chairman Choi Yoon-gil in return for help in passing an ordinance on the establishment of Seongnam Development Corp.
The court also sentenced Choi to 4 1/2 years in prison.
The ruling came about two years after the two were indicted on Feb. 15, 2022.
Kim, the largest shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management at the center of the Daejang-dong development corruption scandal, is accused of hiring Choi as vice chairman of the asset management company in 2021 with a promise to pay bonuses worth 4 billion won after completion of the project and paying 80 million won in salary and other expenses to him.
Choi was indicte
d for passing the Seongman Development Corp. ordinance in the absence of its opponents in 2013 in violation of voting principles in return for bribes from Kim. The ordinance was seen as crucial to the progress of the Daejang-dong project.
Despite the prison terms, the court did not place Kim and Choi under immediate detention, citing little chance of the destruction of evidence and their faithful attendance at trials.
Source: Yonhap News Agency