Suncheon Attorney Recommendation Case | A Client Who Succeeded on Appeal in Obtaining a Suspended Sentence in Place of Imprisonment

The client, who came on a referral to a Suncheon attorney, was in a situation in which the client had deceived the victim and received funds amounting to approximately 100 million won, and had been sentenced to imprisonment at the first instance for the 🔗crime of fraud.

The legal standards for the crime of fraud are set forth in Article 347 of the Criminal Act and in the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

The Criminal Act provides that a person who deceives another and thereby obtains a pecuniary benefit shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than ten years or a fine not exceeding twenty million won.

Where the amount of gain from the crime of fraud is five hundred million won or more, the offender is punished under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

In cases of fraud, punishment is imposed in consideration of the amount of gain, the motive and method of the crime, the circumstances of the victim, and other factors.

The client compensated the victim for the entire amount of the loss.

The client had intended to compensate the victim for the loss even before the complaint in this case was filed, but because the victim stated that no settlement could be reached unless the loss was paid in a lump sum, the client had been unable to compensate the loss or reach a settlement.

The client subsequently compensated the entire amount of the loss over several installments.

The Suncheon attorney submitted transaction records showing that the entire loss had been compensated as evidence and argued that, because a significant change in circumstances had arisen after the original judgment, the sentence imposed by the lower court was excessive.

The client had never been investigated for or subjected to criminal punishment for any crime prior to this case.

The Suncheon attorney emphasized that the client was a first-time offender and argued that the sentence of imprisonment imposed at the first instance was excessively severe.

The Suncheon attorney emphasized that the client and the client's family sincerely apologized to the victim and were showing remorse.

In fact, the client's wife visited the victim, offered an amount in addition to the amount of the loss, and pleaded for forgiveness of her husband while apologizing.

In response, the victim, unlike at the first instance where severe punishment had been demanded, forgave the client.

On the basis of this, the Suncheon attorney argued that the punishment imposed at the first instance was excessive.