Elder brother found guilty of embezzlement, yet… Park Su-hong loses 9.8 billion won lawsuit: "Bear the costs of the damages suit" [Star Scene] [Comprehensive Report]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Entertainer Park Su-hong (56) lost his lawsuit seeking 9.8 billion won in damages against his elder brother and sister-in-law.

On the 13th, Civil Division 12 of the Seoul Western District Court dismissed Park Su-hong's claim against his elder brother, Mr. Park, in the first instance of the damages suit filed against Mr. Park and his sister-in-law, Ms. Lee, and rejected the suit against Ms. Lee. The court also ordered the plaintiff, Park Su-hong's side, to bear the litigation costs.

Park Su-hong and his elder brother's family did not appear in court on that day.

The main issue in this civil lawsuit was whether a separate profit-sharing agreement existed between the brothers. Park Su-hong's side argued that even before the agreement reached in July 2020 to divide the corporation's net assets at a ratio of 7 to 3, there had been a personal agreement to distribute entertainment activity revenues at the same ratio. Based on this, they demanded payment of 70% of the corporation's net assets and 70% of the management agency's shares.

However, the court stated, "No matter how we review the records, it is difficult to see that there was an agreement as claimed by the plaintiff between the plaintiff and Defendant 1 (Mr. Park)," and ruled that "rather than a direct contractual relationship existing between the plaintiff and Defendant 1 before the July 2020 agreement was established, it appears only that the corporation managed the plaintiff's entertainment activities and that revenues were to be received through the corporation."

The court also did not accept the claim for damages based on embezzlement of personal funds raised by Park Su-hong's side. Considering that the relevant criminal case had confirmed a verdict of not guilty for the charge in question, circumstances indicating that Park Su-hong's father kept an account in Park Su-hong's name and withdrew some of the money, and the possibility that part of the amount claimed as embezzled was used by Park Su-hong himself, the court found that the fact of embezzlement had not been sufficiently proven.

Nevertheless, the court criticized the elder brother's family for embezzling company funds and causing damage to the company through acts of breach of trust in the course of business. While pointing out that "the defendants' actions are deserving of condemnation," the court stated that "it is difficult to hold the individual defendants accountable."

In 2021, Park Su-hong filed a lawsuit seeking 11.6 billion won in damages against his elder brother and sister-in-law. Subsequently, while recalculating the amount of settlement losses over approximately 20 years, he temporarily increased the claim to 19.8 billion won, but during the litigation process, the final claim amount was adjusted to just over 9.8 billion won.

Separately from this civil lawsuit, in the previously conducted criminal trial, some of the embezzlement charges against the elder brother's family were confirmed as guilty.

Mr. Park, the elder brother, was prosecuted on charges of using corporate funds of an entertainment management agency for personal purposes while exclusively handling Park Su-hong's management from 2011 to 2021. The charges include privately using the company's corporate card and spending company funds on personal lawyer fees, apartment management fees, and other expenses.

The Supreme Court confirmed the original sentence of three years and six months in prison for Mr. Park, who was prosecuted for violation of the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement), on February 26. Ms. Lee, the sister-in-law, also had some embezzlement charges, such as private use of the corporate card, recognized, and her suspended prison sentence was confirmed.

On the other hand, the charge that Mr. Park diverted and used Park Su-hong's personal funds was judged not guilty. The criminal trial court ruled that it was difficult to see that the fact of embessling approximately 1.6 billion won of Park Su-hong's personal funds had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original