A former chief public-relations secretary to President Lee Myung-bak was sentenced to one and a half years in jail on Wednesday for taking bribes from a troubled savings bank seeking his influence to avoid regulatory punishment.
The Seoul Central District Court delivered the ruling for Kim Du-woo, along with an order he forfeit 111.4 million won ($98,907) and a golf club he received in bribes from Busan Savings Bank's lobbyist Park Tae-kyu. Park was convicted of bribery last December and sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
"Although Kim argued that he only took 10 million won worth of gift cards and they were not related with any business favor, the court accepted Park's coherent statement that he himself has kept a close relation with the senior secretary for the past decade and provided the chief secretary with financial rewards," Judge Kim Woo-jin said.
"Kim deserves a heavy punishment for he has insistently dismissed Park's statement as false even after compromising the impartiality he was supposed to have assumed as a public official by taking the financial rewards," the judge said.
Kim, a journalist-turned-public official, resigned as the chief presidential press secretary in September last year as the bribery allegations engulfed him, and was indicted the next month on charges of taking bribes of 115 million won in cash, gift cards worth 15 million won and a gold club from the lobbyist in 2010.
In return, Park requested that the presidential official, then heading a presidential planning department, use his influence in helping the biggest savings bank avoid regulatory audits and punishment, according to court records.
Despite the lobbying efforts, the savings bank had its business suspended in February last year, due to insufficient capital bases and illegal business practice.
With Wednesday's ruling, Kim became one of several ranking public official and politicians convicted of taking bribes from the corruption-ridden savings bank.
On Tuesday, the former chairman and vice chairman of the suspended bank were sentenced to seven and 14 years behind bars, respectively, for leading financial irregularities worth 9 trillion won, which resulted in massive deposit losses and the business suspension. (Yonhap)