Senior police officer sentenced to six years for accepting bribes from scam suspects

A senior police officer was sentenced to six years in prison for accepting 120 million won ($82,000) in bribes from gambling and cryptocurrency scam suspects. His crimes also included falsely claiming overtime for additional pay.

The Goyang Branch of the Uijeongbu District Court in Gyeonggi. [JOONGANG ILBO]

A senior police officer was sentenced to six years in prison for taking 120 million won ($82,000) in bribes after deceiving gambling and cryptocurrency scam suspects into believing the officer could sway investigations in the suspects’ favor.

The verdict also came with a 100 million won fine, according to the legal community on Tuesday. The officer had been indicted on charges of bribery and violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. The officer has been suspended from duty.

The officer received bribes from December 2023 to March 2024 while working at the Seoul Metropolitan Police and affiliated police stations, prosecutors said. The payments included 50 million won in cash and 70 million won in entertainment expenses. The money was allegedly provided by individuals under investigation whom the officer met through an office manager at a law firm.

At the time, police were investigating illegal stock recommendation group chats and cryptocurrency consignment sales fraud. The officer used those cases to identify and contact suspects. Investigators uncovered those involved through account tracking, call record analysis and search and seizure, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also found that the officer falsely claimed to have worked overtime on 80 occasions from July 2023 to June 2024 despite not having worked those hours. The false claims resulted in 7.88 million won in overtime pay.

“The defendant’s crimes severely undermine the fairness and integrity of duties performed by police officers and significantly damage public trust, making the offense grave and highly reprehensible,” the court stated. “The sentence was determined after considering the defendant’s appeal and all relevant sentencing factors, including the lack of evidence that the defendant directly exercised influence over cases or provided investigative favors, as well as petitions for leniency from fellow officers.”

The Seoul Metropolitan Police sign hangs on its building in Jung District, central Seoul. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The law firm office manager who connected the suspects to the officer was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years, and fined 50 million won on Feb. 20 for aiding and abetting violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and bribery-related charges.

Among the four individuals indicted for providing entertainment and cash to the officer, two were each sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, and fined five million won. Sentencing for the remaining two has been postponed, as one defendant fled and the other is undergoing medical treatment.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY JEON ICK-JIN [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]