Former senior prosecutor gets 3-year jail term for influence peddling

SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Yonhap) — A prosecutor-turned-lawyer was sentenced to three years in prison on Friday for taking kickbacks from a businessman who was seeking the attorney’s influence to obstruct a prosecution investigation into his illegal gambling.

The Seoul Central District Court found Hong Man-pyo, 57, guilty of receiving some 300 million won (US$257,000) from a former chief of cosmetics maker Nature Republic, Jung Woon-ho, to cover up his overseas gambling charges last year. Still, Jung was indicted in October 2015.

Hong was a prominent prosecutor who investigated major corruption cases that involved the country’s former presidents. Hong resigned from the prosecution office in 2011, and had since worked as a lawyer.

Under the country’s law, lawyers are prohibited from using influence with the law enforcement agency to help their clients.

The 57-year-old lawyer was also convicted of evading taxes by working without filing official reports. The court ordered Hong to forfeit 500 million won.

The lawyer has been denying allegations he unlawfully contacted his former colleagues to advocate his client, while partially admitting to the tax evasion charges.

Hong Man-pyo, a prosecutor-turned-lawyer, bows after arriving at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on May 27, 2016, to face questions over suspicions he illegally used his influence for his clients and evaded taxes in the process.