SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- A former legal affairs aide for President Lee Myung-bak was sentenced to one and a half years in prison on Thursday for receiving bribes in return for using his influence to gain favor for a scandal-ridden savings bank.
The Seoul Central District Court handed down the prison term to Eun Jin-soo, who also served as a vice-ministerial level auditor at the Board of Audit and Inspection, along with an order to forfeit the 70 million won (US$61,815) he took in bribes.
Eun, who in 2007 was a legal adviser to then president-elect Lee's transition team, was indicted on charges of receiving the money in 2010 from Yoon Yeo-sung, a lobbyist for Busan Savings Bank, in return for peddling his influence to win the troubled bank time and a chance to revive.
Eun was also charged with helping his brother land a lucrative job at a casino firm through Yoon.
"Eun's crime, committed by using his influence as an auditor, weakened social trust toward public workers, and the bribes he took are a huge sum while the money his brother pocketed reached 100 million won," Judge Kim Woo-jin said.
Eun is one of more than 70 people indicted in the massive bribery scandal engulfing the bank, whose operations were suspended in February due to capital shortages.
A dozen politicians and high-ranking public officials were indicted on charges of taking money in return for peddling influence to block the suspension while the bank's top executives and major shareholders were convicted of taking illegal loans out of the bank, the major cause of the bank's failure. About 20,000 depositors and bond holders at Busan Bank and its four other suspended savings bank affiliates face the danger of losing their savings following the suspension.
<한글기사>
은진수 前감사위원 1년6월 실형
부산저축은행그룹 측 금융브로커 윤여성씨에게서 청탁과 함께 금품을 받은 혐의로 구속기소된 은진수(50) 전 감사원 감사위원에게 실형이 선고됐다.
서울중앙지법 형사합의22부(김우진 부장판사)는 3일 특정경제범죄가중처벌법상 알선수재 혐의로 구속기소된 은 전 감사위원에게 징역 1년6월과 추징금 7천만원을 선고했다.
재판부는 “감사위원 지위를 이용해 거액을 수수함으로써 공무원에 대한 사회적 신뢰도를 훼손했으며, (피고인의) 형이 받은 이익도 1억원에 달한다”며 “감사위원으로서 가져야 할 태도를 취하지 못한 만큼 실형에 처하지 않을 수 없다”고 밝혔다.
은 전 위원은 지난해 부산저축은행에 대한 금융감독원 검사를 완화해달라고 금감원장에게 청탁하는 대가로 윤씨에게서 세 차례에 걸쳐 7000만원을 받고 친형의 취업 알선을 부탁해 1억원의 급여를 받게 한 혐의로 구속기소됐다.
