I am being investigated on charges of bribery. Am I subject to punishment?

浏览量2,022

I'm a CEO of a rapidly growing company. As sales have increased recently, we're facing a Financial Supervisory Service investigation due to suspicions of accounting fraud. We're told we need to undergo precision auditing among the FSS accounting reviews, and there's even a risk of delisting if we mishandle it. Why do we need an accounting review, and can I get legal advice from an accountant attorney?

bribery

相关咨询的解答

作者: 박동일

Hello. This is a criminal specialist attorney at Daeryun Law Firm.

Bribery can lead to legal punishment beyond simple social entertainment.

Meals and gifts received from business partners, if related to duties, may be problematic as a violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act (Anti-Graft Act), i.e., bribery.

The Anti-Graft Act sets standards for bribery for public officials and public institution workers, and recently, with revisions to the Enforcement Decree, reorganization has been pursued in the direction of raising allowable standards such as meal expenses.

The following is an overview of major punishments related to the Anti-Graft Act.

Subject of Application	Prohibition Standard (Example)	Possibility of Punishment
Public Officials, etc.	Meal expenses exceeding 50,000 won, gift value exceeding 50,000 won	Possible imposition of fine for negligence
Public Officials, etc.	Total amount of money exceeding 1 million won at one time, 3 million won per year	Possible criminal punishment (fine/imprisonment)
Persons Related to Duties	Receipt of money related to duties	Possible criminal punishment
Private Companies	Repeated entertainment with money	Possible breach of trust by acceptance

Violations of the Anti-Graft Act do not stop at the imposition of fines for negligence but can lead to criminal complaints, and especially when the relationship is clear or the amount is large, there are also cases of fine sentences or imprisonment sentences being imposed.

In addition, in the case of private companies, repeated entertainment or bribery may also be subject to separate criminal liability such as breach of trust by acceptance.

Duty relevance, the nature of the money, and the timing of provision have important effects on legal judgment.

Therefore, if you are facing an investigation by the investigative agency, it is important to prioritize fact-finding and legal review, and to prepare a response strategy together with a criminal specialist attorney.

Bribery charges are not a simple moral issue but a matter that can lead to criminal punishment.