Employee who embezzled W4b worth of Korean beef sentenced to 5 years

An employee at a livestock cooperative in Gangwon Province who secretly removed Korean beef worth billions of won and sold it at cut-rate prices has been sentenced to five years in prison.

The Chuncheon District Court's Criminal Division 2, presided over by Judge Kim Seong-rae, sentenced the man, identified only as A, a man in his 30s, to five years in prison on Thursday. He had been indicted on charges of embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, theft and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

A was charged with diverting about 4 billion won ($2.99 million) worth of Korean beef on more than 1,000 occasions over roughly four years and nine months — from June 2021 to February this year — and selling it at below-market prices to supermarkets and restaurants, pocketing the proceeds.

He also stole about 9 million won worth of Korean beef from the cooperative's cold-storage facility and used a cooperative-owned vehicle without authorization in the process.

Police investigating the embezzlement found that A, who was responsible for shipment and delivery, had secretly removed packaged cuts — including sirloin, tenderloin and strip loin — and falsified transaction records to make it appear that inventory remained in stock.

A sold the beef at 30 to 50 percent below market value, collecting about 2.3 billion won in proceeds — an amount that would have fetched roughly 4 billion won had the cooperative sold it through normal channels.

A told investigators he committed the crimes to cover living expenses, but the investigation found that most of the money had gone toward illegal gambling or cryptocurrency investment.

The court said A's conduct was "extremely poor in character, as he exploited his position to commit the crimes," adding that no restitution had been made and the victim cooperative had not forgiven him. It said it took into account that A admitted to the offenses and showed remorse in determining the sentence.