Former executives and employees of Incheon Port Authority file an appeal to the Supreme Court against charges of demanding hundreds of millions of bribes

(Incheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Choi Eun-ji = Former executives and employees of the Incheon Port Authority (IPA), who demanded hundreds of millions of bribes from a private company, appealed to the Supreme Court against the appellate court's ruling.

According to the legal community on the 28th, former IPA executive A (62), who was sentenced to 7 years in prison and a fine of 100 million won in an appeal trial on the 18th on charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, recently submitted an appeal to the Incheon Out-of-hospital Court of the Seoul High Court.

Mr. B (54), a former IPA employee who was brought to trial on similar charges, also appealed against the appellate court ruling that sentenced him to five years in prison and a fine of 100 million won.

Those sentenced to imprisonment for less than 10 years can appeal only if there is a violation of the constitution, law, order, or rule that affected the sentence.

Previously, the first trial judged the bribe value to be 400 million won and sentenced Mr. A to 8 years in prison and a fine of 400 million won, and Mr. B to 6 years in prison and a fine of 400 million won, but the second trial court only recognized the bribe value as 100 million won and commuted the sentences.

Mr. A and others were indicted on charges of demanding hundreds of millions of bribes from a private company in connection with a sports facility construction project promoted at the site behind Incheon North Port between February and March 2023.

As a result of the investigation, their request for bribes was partially confirmed to be true in IPA's own specific audit, but it was found that no money or valuables were actually exchanged as the project was not promoted as planned.

Mr. A later retired at the expiration of his term, and Mr. B was dismissed after being relieved of his position.