[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Busan, July 13, 2025 — A South Korean court has sentenced a legal clerk and a credit union executive to prison for accepting large sums of money in exchange for brokering a loan extension for a local housing cooperative.



The Busan District Court Criminal Division 7, presided over by Chief Judge Shin Hyung-cheol, sentenced Mr. A, a legal clerk, and Mr. B, an executive director at a Busan-based branch of the National Credit Union Federation (Saemaul Geumgo), to three years in prison each for violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (Breach of Trust and Bribery).



The court also ordered Mr. A to forfeit KRW 550 million and Mr. B KRW 281 million, the amounts they illicitly received.



The case involves a regional housing cooperative in Busan that in 2023 sought assistance in securing the sixth extension of a large-scale loan, originally granted as a KRW 112.1 billion bridge loan in April 2019 and later refinanced into a KRW 172.3 billion collateral loan in November 2020.



Mr. A, the younger brother of the cooperative's project manager and acting on behalf of a law firm handling the cooperative’s legal affairs, was asked in March 2023 to help ensure the loan would be extended. He contacted Mr. B, a longtime acquaintance and executive at a credit union.



Mr. B introduced Mr. A to Mr. C, another credit union executive in Busan. Mr. C then contacted the lead financial institution in the loan syndicate, encouraging them to review the extension request. Shortly thereafter, the loan term was extended by one year.



Following the successful extension, Mr. A received KRW 550 million from the cooperative in May 2023 and passed KRW 281 million to Mr. B the following month.



During the trial, both defendants argued that the funds were legitimate payments for consulting and that the introductions and communications were within acceptable social norms. The court rejected these claims.

 

As of this reporting, Mr. C and other individuals involved have not yet been indicted.

 

 

 

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