Thousands of won in cash in a gift from a customer... If there was no 'bribery awareness', is there punishment?[Seocho Cafe]

[Financial News] A bank employee who kept cash worth thousands of won inside a nutritional supplement received from a loan customer without realizing it was acquitted.
According to the legal community on the 8th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 21 (Chief Judge Lee Hyun-bok) acquitted bank employee A of charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (bribery, etc.) on the 22nd of last month.
A, who was in charge of loan operations at a commercial bank, was brought to trial on charges of receiving a total of over 40 million won in cash from pharmacist B in April 2022, with a request to "handle the loan review well." B was found to have handed over a shopping bag containing 20 million won in cash along with nutritional supplements worth 70,000 won to A twice while applying for a loan of 4.56 billion won.
A claimed that he did not realize there was cash inside the shopping bag because he kept it under his office desk. He also said that he later confirmed the presence of cash and expressed his intention to return it to B.
However, when the bank's audit team discovered the shopping bag during an on-site audit, A initially falsely explained it as "funds for a relative's local election" and later admitted it.
The issue was whether A knew there was cash inside the shopping bag when he received and kept it. For bribery to be established, A must have recognized it as cash from the time he received it and intended to gain from it.
The court ruled, "It is difficult to see that A recognized the item B intended to deliver as cash or other valuables related to his duties, based solely on CCTV footage, the circumstances of receiving the shopping bag, and the context before and after," and acquitted him.
The court cited the fact that A received the first shopping bag while dining with colleagues and outsiders without hesitation and returned to the dining table with the shopping bag. He also left the shopping bag in the branch manager's office, which was considered typical behavior.
Additionally, the court considered that B only informed A that it was "nutritional supplements" without mentioning cash or other valuables, and the shopping bag was sealed or covered with a vitamin box, making it difficult to recognize the presence of cash. The fact that the shopping bag was stored under A's desk, where it could be exposed to other employees for a long time, also supported the acquittal.
The prosecution appealed the ruling.
Meanwhile, B, who delivered the shopping bag, was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probation.

scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter