'Mercedes prosecutor' not guilty

Ruling draws harsh public criticism

By Kim Rahn

The Supreme Court upheld Thursday a high court ruling that overturned a guilty verdict against a former female prosecutor on charges of receiving luxury items from a lawyer she had an affair with in exchange for influence-peddling.

It said the items were “tokens of love” between her and the lawyer, who are both married.

The female prosecutor, surnamed Lee, 40, was arrested in 2011 for receiving items worth some 55 million won from the lawyer, Choi, 53, in exchange for handing one of his cases to her colleague for showing leniency in court.

The items included a Mercedes Benz sedan, a Chanel bag, a fur coat, a diamond ring, a luxury watch and a set of golf clubs. Choi also let her use his corporate credit card and leased an apartment for her.

Lee claimed that Choi had offered her financial support after they began the affair in 2007. She claimed the support and items were nothing to do with the 2010 case that Lee’s colleague dealt with, and also that the sedan was a token of love.

A local court found her guilty and sentenced her to three years in jail, saying that the money and the items were given in return for her influence-peddling even though they were offered before this was done.

However, an appellate court overturned the judgment. It concluded that Lee sought her colleague’s favor because she liked Choi. It acknowledged that the Mercedes was Choi’s promise to Lee not to see other women.

The high court also said that the time difference between the incidents showed the money was not in exchange for her influence-peddling ― she received the Mercedes in April 2009, used Choi’s credit card in April 2010, and sought her colleague’s favor in September 2010.

However, public sentiment is vastly different from the court decision ― bloggers are criticizing the ruling on the case that prompted the proposal of the recently passed anti-graft law which punishes public officials if they take money or items worth 1 million won or more, regardless of whether this was in return for favors or related to their work.

“Now I see. If you want to take bribes, you have to have affairs first,” wrote a blogger, Ahn Yong-su.

Another, nicknamed Yeondu, said, “Lee and Choi should have had additional punishments, but the courts defended them because they were from the judicial circle. How shameless!”