Eastar Jet Embezzlement and Breach of Trust Case Begins… Expands to Issue of Recruitment of Former Son-in-Law
Lee sentenced to 10 years in prison for cases involving him… Moon’s investigation period and method undecidedLee Sang-jik found ‘guilty’… Only investigation of former President Moon remains” />
(Jeonju = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeong Gyeong-jae = Of the four suspicions surrounding former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik that were only rumored in the political world, three were partially revealed to be true with the court’s ‘guilty’ verdict.
Former lawmaker Lee, founder of Eastar Jet, caused hundreds of billions of won in losses to the company and embezzled some of the money to be shared between himself and his family. This suspicion was solidified as fact by the Supreme Court’s final ruling.
He also instructed human resources managers to hire under-qualified or unqualified candidates during the airline’s hiring process.
Here, Eastar Jet’s funds were used to establish Thai Eastar Jet, a Thai low-cost airline with an uncertain future, which ultimately caused the company great financial losses.
These two suspicions turned into certainty when the former lawmaker was sentenced to prison in the first and second trials, respectively.
Now, the last one. Unlike other cases that have gone to trial, the only one that remains is the suspicion of ‘preferential hiring of former President Moon Jae-in‘s former son-in-law at Thai Star Jet’, which is still under investigation by the prosecution.
Public Transport Workers’ Union, press conference to announce position on the motion to arrest Lee Sang-jik
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◇ 4 cases filed against the People Power Party and others at the end of the Moon Jae-in administration
According to the legal community on the 16th, the prosecution began investigating suspicions surrounding former lawmaker Lee around 2020-2021, during the final years of the Moon Jae-in administration.
The People Power Party, which was the opposition party at the time, and civic groups filed four complaints with the Jeonju District Prosecutors’ Office, which is the former lawmaker’s constituency (Jeonju-eul).
Specifically, ▲ embezzlement and breach of trust at Eastar Jet (September 2020) ▲ fraudulent hiring at Eastar Jet (April 2021) ▲ breach of trust at Thai Eastar Jet (May 2021) ▲ fraudulent hiring of former President Moon’s son-in-law (December 2021), etc.
The former lawmaker, who was involved in all of these incidents, openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the prosecution’s investigation by making remarks such as “embarrassing” and “witch hunt.”
When the prosecution requested an arrest warrant, he also declared that he would “proudly cooperate with the substantive examination of the warrant” and that he would prove his innocence.
The pilots’ union of Eastar Jet, which was on the verge of bankruptcy due to poor management at the time, reported that the former lawmaker had confidently declared his innocence while laughing in the elevator of the courtroom, saying, “I am a phoenix,” and “I have become Buddha.”
However, the court did not accept the former lawmaker’s explanation based on the physical evidence and testimonies from those around him submitted by the prosecution.
The court sentenced the defendant to six years in prison for embezzlement and breach of trust, stating, “As the CEO of Eastar Jet, the defendant used his enormous power within the group to gain personal gain,” and the Supreme Court confirmed the sentence.
Regarding the unfair hiring case, the court sentenced him to 1 year and 6 months in prison, saying, “It deprived job seekers of a fair opportunity to compete,” and for the Thai Eastar Jet embezzlement case, the court sentenced him to 2 years in prison, saying, “It caused clear damage to Eastar Jet.”
The court also sentenced former lawmaker Lee to four months in prison for the ‘preferential hiring of children of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport officials’ case, which was separately prosecuted from the unfair hiring case. Although some of the verdicts have not yet been finalized, if you add the sentences that former lawmaker Lee has received so far in relation to Eastar Jet, the total is nine years and ten months.
Kwak Sang-do: “Eastar Jet and Thai Eastar Jet are the same company”
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◇ “Establishment of Thai Star Jet Ideal Job”… Investigation gains momentum due to court ruling
Unlike the other three cases where indictments were made early, the investigation into the alleged unfair hiring of Mr. Seo, former President Moon’s son-in-law, was relatively slow until last year.
Since this is a case involving the former president’s family, there were criticisms from both inside and outside the political world that the prosecution was being cautious.
At the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s state audit held on October 20th last year, People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Sang-beom said regarding this incident, “There is criticism that the prosecution is ‘taking a lenient approach to the investigation.’ Please make sure that there are no such suspicions.”
At the time, Jeonju District Prosecutor Lee Chang-soo responded, “I am well aware that there is such a story,” and “I will quickly investigate and reach a conclusion.”
Prosecutors’ investigation into the case began to pick up speed after a notable court ruling in former lawmaker Lee’s trial earlier this year.
Former lawmaker Lee has consistently denied the allegations of embezzlement, saying, “Eastar Jet and Thai Eastar Jet are unrelated,” but on January 24, the court ruled, “The defendant unilaterally used company funds to establish Thai Eastar Jet even though Eastar Jet was in a state of capital impairment.”
In order to clear up the suspicion that former lawmaker Lee helped Ms. Seo get a job, which ultimately benefited former President Moon, it must first be proven that former lawmaker Lee was in a position to exert influence over the personnel affairs of Thai Star Jet, but the court’s decision seems to have resolved this.
Afterwards, key figures who worked at the Blue House during the Moon Jae-in administration were summoned one after another.
Former Senior Secretary to the President for Personnel Cho Hyun-ok, former Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs Kim Jong-ho, former Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs Baek Won-woo, former Minister of SMEs and Startups Hong Jong-hak, former Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups Choi Soo-gyu, and former Chief of the Presidential Security Service Joo Young-hoon were investigated one after another.
Among them, former Senior Secretary to the President for Personnel Cho was indicted on charges of obstruction of exercise of rights by abuse of power in May.
Recently, key figures in the Moon Jae-in administration, including former Chief of Staff to the President Im Jong-seok and former Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk, were investigated by the prosecution as reference persons.
They defined the prosecution’s investigation as “political revenge” and claimed that President Yoon Seok-yeol was behind it.
Former President Moon Jae-in
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◇ Will former President Moon be summoned? Prosecutors cautiously moving forward
Based on the flow of the prosecution’s investigation so far, the core of this case appears to be the suspicion of bribery from former lawmaker Lee to former President Moon.
The prosecution believes that there was a quid pro quo in the fact that former lawmaker Lee took office as the chairman of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency in March 2018 and that Mr. Seo, who had no experience in the aviation industry, was hired as an executive director at Thai Star Jet in August of the same year.
The prosecution’s legal judgment is that since former President Moon stopped providing financial support to his daughter Da-hye after Ms. Seo got a job, former President Moon was able to gain that much financial benefit as a result.
The amount of profit is 223 million won, including the salary and housing expenses that Mr. Seo received while working at Thai Star Jet for about 20 months, according to the search and seizure warrant issued by the prosecution by the court.
Since the prosecution has indicted former President Moon on bribery charges and former lawmaker Lee on bribery charges, it seems inevitable that they will be investigated in the future.
Former lawmaker Lee is currently incarcerated in Jeonju Prison, so it is easy to conduct a face-to-face investigation, but there is speculation that former President Moon will be difficult to summon without sufficient evidence due to the strong resistance of the opposition party, which has defined the prosecution’s investigation as “political retaliation.”
Because of this, there are discussions both inside and outside the legal community about the possibility of an investigation at a “third location,” an “on-site investigation” by the investigation team, or a “private summons” to avoid the press’ photo line, just like when Ms. Kim Gun-hee was investigated by the prosecution on suspicion of accepting luxury handbags.
Considering that most of the people involved have been summoned for questioning so far and that key witnesses have not appeared, and that they have even requested witness examination before the trial date, it seems unlikely that the prosecution will choose the ‘written questioning’ method.
The Jeonju District Prosecutors’ Office’s 3rd Criminal Division (Chief Prosecutor Han Yeon-gyu), which is investigating this case, is keeping quiet about the timing or method of the investigation into former President Moon, saying, “Nothing has been decided as of now.”
A Jeonju District Prosecutors’ Office official emphasized, “We are investigating in accordance with the law and principles in the established order without political considerations.”
Regarding the opposition party’s characterization of this investigation as “Clock 2” like the one during the time of former President Roh Moo-hyun, he said, “That is absolutely not the case,” and, “Once the investigation is concluded, I will have the opportunity to organize my position and state it.”
In front of the quiet Jeonju District Public Prosecutor’s Office building
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The airline’s failure and financial instability.
Eastar Jet Embezzlement and Breach of Trust Case: A Web of Corruption Unravels
The Korean political world is still reeling from the shocking revelations surrounding the case of former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, founder of Eastar Jet, who has been convicted of embezzlement, breach of trust, and unfair hiring practices. The investigation, which began in 2020, has exposed a complex web of corruption that involved the misuse of company funds, preferential hiring of under-qualified candidates, and even the recruitment of former President Moon Jae-in’s son-in-law.
A Pattern of Corruption
The Supreme Court’s final ruling has confirmed that Lee Sang-jik embezzled hundreds of billions of won from Eastar Jet, causing significant financial losses to the company. He was found guilty of instructing human resources managers to hire under-qualified or unqualified candidates during the airline’s hiring process, depriving job seekers of a fair opportunity to compete. Additionally, he was convicted of misusing company funds to establish Thai Eastar Jet, a Thai low-cost airline with an uncertain future, which ultimately caused
