Popular Celebrity Drags Brother To Court For Embezzling His Money, Court Sentences Him To Prison

The older brother of popular broadcaster Park Soo Hong has been sentenced to jail on charges of diverting tens of billions of won from his brother’s income.

On December 19, KST, the Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 7 held an appellate sentencing hearing for Park, the older brother of Park Soo Hong, and his wife, Lee. The couple was indicted on charges of embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Park was indicted in October 2022 on charges of siphoning off approximately₩6.17 billion KRW (about $4.18 million USD) over about ten years (2011 to 2021) while exclusively managing Park Soo Hong’s career. He embezzled both company funds and his younger brother’s personal money, and his wife, Lee, was also indicted without detention for participating in some of the embezzlement.

However, in February of last year, the first trial court only partially acknowledged the charge that Park embezzled ₩2.00 billion KRW (about $1.36 million USD) in company funds, sentencing him to two years in prison and acquitting Lee. Both the prosecution and the Park couple appealed the ruling. The second trial was held on December 19.

At the appellate trial, the court sentenced Park to three years and six months in prison. The court also issued a detention warrant and took him into custody in the courtroom, citing flight risk. Park’s wife, Lee, was found partially guilty and sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, along with 120 hours of community service. Lee was seen leaving the courtroom in tears.

The court stated that Park abused the trust of his brother, Park Soo Hong, by taking advantage of the weak internal oversight typical in family-run businesses. Hence, his crimes went beyond infringing upon the financial interests of the direct victims of the embezzlement and breach of trust and disrupted the tax order that should have been upheld alongside the joint-stock company system. The court recognized Park Soo Hong as the main victim, who suffered emotionally and financially.

The court also analyzed the investigation, which showed that a substantial portion of the money siphoned from the victims was used to acquire personal assets, such as real estate, under the names of Park and his wife. Park was rebuked for using his brother’s name and image as a famous entertainer to accumulate private wealth while completely betraying Park Soo Hong’s trust and public credibility.

Addressing why the option of partial repayment was not considered, the court explained that even if it was made, the source of the funds was entirely Park Soo Hong’s income, which made him the principal victim. Additionally, the ruling also took into consideration that up to the second trial, since Park had made no restitution to his brother, and neither had he shown any intention to do so. In fact, Park Soo Hong had repeatedly petitioned for severe punishment for his older brother in both trials.