Lee Jae-po (65), who transitioned from being a comedian and actor to a journalist, has been sentenced to a fine for fraud charges.
On the 3rd, Judge Park Jong-woong of the Incheon District Court's Criminal Division 16 announced that Lee Jae-po was fined 10 million won for being indicted on fraud charges.
Lee Jae-po was indicted for deceiving an acquaintance, Mr. A, and swindling 20 million won at a pension in Ganghwa-gun, Incheon, on November 22, 2020. At that time, Lee told Mr. A, "My wife's clothing store is struggling due to COVID-19," and asked to borrow 20 million won urgently.
However, the investigation revealed that Lee intended to use the borrowed money for personal purposes. He had no intention or ability to repay the money.
The court stated, "Considering the circumstances and methods of the defendant's crime, the nature of the crime is not good, and despite being in a probation period, he committed the crime without remorse," and added, "We took into account that he acknowledges his wrongdoing, has reached an agreement with the victim, and has no prior convictions for similar crimes" when explaining the reasons for sentencing.
Lee Jae-po, who debuted in the MBC Comedy Contest in 1983, transitioned to acting and appeared in popular dramas such as 'The Fourth Republic' and 'The Age of Wildness.'
In 2006, he transitioned to journalism and was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison for violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (defamation) in 2018.
[Lee Da-kyum, Star Today Reporter]
