From April to August 2016, he was accused of giving a “no problem” lecture despite knowing that IDS Holdings was illegal.
In a conversation in June 2016, he said, “It is difficult to deny that it is a multi-level organization.”
Court: “Damage exceeding KRW 300 billion occurred due to lawyer’s participation in crime”
Mr. Cho, an advisor to IDS Holdings who committed fraud worth 1 trillion won, was sentenced to prison in the first trial on the 6th on charges of aiding and abetting fraud. The charge is that even though he knew that IDS Holdings’ business was illegal, he explained to the victims that there was no problem.
The IDS Holdings case is a multi-level fraud case that caused damage of about 1.1 trillion won to about 12,000 people from 2011 to 2016 by claiming to invest in Hong Kong FX margin trading. Seong-Hoon Kim, the main culprit in the IDS Holdings case, was arrested by the prosecution in September 2016 and sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of fraud and violation of the door-to-door sales law.
Attorney Cho gave lectures to the victims and IDS Holdings officials five times from April 11, 2016, to August 25, 2016, right before Mr. Kim was arrested, to the effect that there were no legal problems with the business.
Over the course of about four months, from when Attorney Cho began giving lectures defending IDS Holdings until CEO Kim was arrested, IDS Holdings collected additional investment of approximately 300 billion won.
However, at the time of giving this lecture, Attorney Cho appears to have been aware that there were legal problems with the IDS Holdings business.
According to the Telegram conversation between Attorney Cho and the main offender, Mr. Kim, on June 22, 2016, obtained by KPI News, Attorney Cho said, “Based on the business methods to date, it appears that there is a high possibility of indictment for violating the door-to-door sales law. “he said.
Attorney Cho said, “Receiving investment money through an account in the name of the CEO (Kim Seong-hoon) and paying the proceeds every day ultimately leads to losses,” and “The result of collecting opinions from our corporate lawyers is to deny the multi-level organization part under the current branch operation situation.” He also said, “We have come to the tentative conclusion that it is difficult.”
In addition, Mr. Kim had already been convicted in the second trial in January 2016 on charges of quasi-receipt worth 67.2 billion won, and was sentenced to 2 years in prison and 3 years of probation. “It is taken as a sign to continue,” he said.
On this day, Judge Koo Chang-gyu of the 12th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court said, “Even after Kim Seong-hoon was found guilty, the defendant (attorney Cho) gave a lecture asking people to believe in Kim Seong-hoon’s sincerity, saying, ‘The business that Kim Seong-hoon is pursuing is a business with substance.'” “The fact that the defendant arbitrarily distorted the ruling and gave a lecture supporting the validity of Kim Seong-hoon seems to have contributed to victims providing funds because they believed that Kim Seong-hoon’s business was legitimate and there was no problem,” he pointed out.
Judge Koo said, “The victims suffered damages exceeding 300 billion won due to the defendant’s participation in the crime. Although it is clear that as a lawyer, he should strive to maintain social order, the method of committing the crime was poor by arbitrarily misinterpreting the court ruling and providing incorrect information to investors.” “He criticized.
Judge Koo explained the reason for the sentencing, saying, “The defendant has not been able to recover from the damage or be forgiven by the victims, and some victims are pleading for the defendant to be severely punished.”
IDS Holdings victim A, who sued Attorney Cho, said in a phone call with KPI News, “Victims including me believe that Attorney Cho is a powerful accomplice to fraud by Kim Seong-hoon of IDS Holdings,” and added, “We look forward to a just ruling in the appeals court.” .
Attorney Cho worked as an aide to former Saenuri Party (now People Power Party) lawmaker Kyung Dae-soo from June 2012 to June 2014. He also worked as an attorney at Kyung Dae-soo Law Office from January 2007 to May 2012, when former lawmaker Kyung was working as a lawyer.
The reason he joined IDS Holdings as an advisory attorney was at the recommendation of Mr. Y, a former executive at IDS Holdings, who is a hometown friend of former Rep. Kyung. Former lawmaker Kyung also caused controversy when he appeared in a video commemorating the founding of IDS Holdings in 2015.
KPI News / Reporter Hyuksu Jeon [email protected]
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