Lawyer pocketed police officer clients’ cash — and used it to buy crypto

A South Korean lawyer embezzled over $4,000 from his police officer clients and used the funds to make private crypto investments.

A district court in the city of Cheongju found the lawyer, unnamed for legal reasons, guilty of misappropriating funds handed over as part of a settlement deal, the South Korean newspaper Joongbu Maeil reported. The court did not disclose which cryptocurrencies were involved.

“This is a heinous crime that involved neglecting professional ethics,” Presiding Judge Ji Yun-seop told the court in sentencing. However, despite the court’s condemnation, the lawyer received no jail sentence, instead receiving a $7,000 fine.

Critics have hit out at South Korean courts for handing out what they call “lenient” sentences for crypto offenders. Earlier this month, lawyers representing the victims of a $5.4 million South Korean crypto scam said victims were unhappy that many of the fraudsters who cheated them out of their savings had not been jailed for their crimes.

Court shows clemency

Prosecutors told the Cheongju District Court that the unnamed lawyer, aged in their 40s, had been contracted by the North Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency on behalf of three officers.

In December 2020, three North Chungcheong police officers launched a civil lawsuit against another individual, also unnamed, who they claimed had obstructed their official duties.

The lawsuit was concluded in April 2021, with a court ordering the parties to agree on a settlement deal. The defendant was told to pay the three officers over $4,000 in damages.

The defendant duly did so, sending the money to the lawyer. But the lawyer, prosecutors said, did not transfer this money to his police officer clients, “instead keeping it in his personal account before spending it on cryptocurrency investments.”

Prosecutors told the court that the lawyer had “signed a business agreement with the North Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency” before embezzling the money.

Under the terms of this agreement, the lawyer was obliged to help the agency’s officers make claims about people who had blocked them from carrying out their duties, helping officers win several cases.

The court said the lawyer’s regret had convinced it to show clemency.

“Embezzling a client’s property while acting as their lawyer is a condemnable crime,” said Judge Ji. “However, in sentencing, the court has taken into consideration the fact that the defendant admitted their guilt, showed remorse, and had no prior criminal record.”

Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email at tdalper@dlnews.com.