An incumbent judge was indicted Thursday on charges of taking bribes from a private money lender in return for legal favors, prosecutors said.
Choi Min-ho, who works at the Suwon District Court in the Seoul suburb, is accused of amassing 268 million won ($246,000) in bribes from 2009 to 2011. He did this in exchange for helping a notorious loan shark receive reduced sentences for gambling- and drug-related crimes, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said.
The usurer has had multiple trials between 2008 and 2012. Prosecutors said he had been acquitted of several drug-related charges during this period.
Prosecutors believe the two met in February 2009 through Choi’s relative. Choi allegedly started demanding money in September of that year.
It marks the first time in eight years that a sitting judge was charged with bribery. The last time was in 2006, when a Seoul High Court judge faced similar charges. (Yonhap)
