A reporter who wrote a promotional article for money related to the 'Donskoi' scam, which gathered investors saying that there were astronomical amounts of gold bars and treasures inside a warship that sank during the Russo-Japanese War, has been sentenced to imprisonment by the appeals court.



According to the legal community today (19th), Criminal Division 6-1 of the Seoul High Court (Judge Won Jong-chan, Chancellor Jeong, and Chief Judge Kang Kyung-pyo) broke the first trial that sentenced a journalist A (66) of a media company with a suspended sentence and sentenced him to 10 months in prison.



In the first trial, Mr. A was sentenced to 8 months in prison and 2 years of probation, but the sentence increased as the money received in exchange for writing publicity articles was additionally recognized at the appeals court.



The court ruled that there was no risk of evidence destruction or escaping, so the court did not arrest him.



A 68-year-old former CEO of Shinil Group Donskoi International Exchange, who was also charged with soliciting articles by giving A total of 40 million won, was fined 20 million won, somewhat higher than the first trial (a fine of 10 million won). sentenced



The court ruled, "The quality of the crime is not good in that the fairness and objectivity of the media reports and the general public's trust in it have been greatly damaged, and the amount of money and valuables received by the accused is not small."



In particular, it pointed out that "the defendant's crimes were used as a means of fraudulent crimes related to the Donskoi, resulting in large amounts of damage from many victims."



Previously, they were handed over to trial in July 2020 on charges of violating the Act on Prohibition of Solicitation and Grafting.



In the first trial, only 10 million won of the money that A received from Yoo was considered as a solicitation, and the remaining 30 million won was acquitted due to lack of evidence.



The Donskoi investment fraud case is a case of collecting and distributing Shinil Gold Coin (SGC), a fake virtual currency, to salvage the Donskoi in July 2018.



The Donskoi was discovered in the sea near Ulleungdo in 2003 through a joint exploration project between the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology and Dong-A Construction.



However, due to diplomatic and salvage financing issues, it has not been salvaged yet, and no gold bars or gold coins were found during the 2003 expedition.



(Photo = Getty Images Korea)