Criminal

The Criminal Law Team at Gaon Law Firm has extensive experience handling a wide range of criminal matters, particularly in corporate criminal cases, tax, finance, and foreign exchange issues, administrative law violations, compliance consulting, and audit responses. The team’s expertise and strategic approach ensure comprehensive legal support in each case.

Corporate Criminal Cases / Tax, Finance, and Foreign Exchange Issues

In the course of corporate operations, various criminal issues arise, particularly in capital raising and disbursement, as well as finance and foreign exchange transactions. These matters often correlate closely with tax risks. Actions taken to mitigate tax liability can increase criminal risk, and vice versa, necessitating an integrated and systematic approach to both criminal and tax issues. As a firm specialized in tax and corporate law, Gaon Law Firm brings a wealth of experience and expertise to bear in this area.

Mr. Kwon Gi-dae, head of the criminal law team, has accumulated high-level expertise in tax, finance, and foreign exchange matters through his 19-year tenure as a prosecutor, where he handled numerous cases involving fraud, embezzlement, breach of trust, and corporate disputes. His roles as Head of the Proceeds of Crime Recovery Department at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and as Head of the Strategic Analysis Team at the Financial Intelligence Unit have further enhanced his expertise. Working closely with the Taxation and Corporate Advisory teams, Gaon’s Criminal Law Team provides proactive and comprehensive responses to various tax-related criminal cases, including tax evasion and fictitious transactions, as well as financial and foreign exchange criminal cases such as embezzlement, breach of trust, violations of foreign exchange laws, and illegal overseas asset transfers.

Administrative Penalties and Remedies

In South Korea, the thousands of individual administrative laws contain criminal penalty clauses, leading to high criminal liability risks for companies during their operations. Violating administrative laws can result in severe business losses, such as license cancellations and business suspensions, requiring proactive and swift responses. Effective responses also require an understanding of not only the specific administrative statutes but also general administrative law principles and criminal law doctrines.

With an academic background in administrative law from Seoul National University Law School (Ph.D. candidate) and extensive prosecutorial experience, Mr. Kwon Gi-dae provides comprehensive solutions to administrative violations, combining theoretical insight with practical expertise. Gaon Law Firm’s Criminal Law Team aims to promptly resolve cases and minimize client damages by effectively integrating legal principles from both administrative and criminal law to persuade investigative agencies.

Anti-Corruption and Compliance

While swift and active responses to criminal and administrative law violations are critical in corporate operations, preventing these issues in advance can save substantial time and cost. Gaon’s Criminal Law Team provides consulting to help clients identify potential criminal risks related to corporate activities, offering structural adjustments to their business systems to enhance compliance. Additionally, we advise on various internal control measures to prevent corporate executives from violating laws, including the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act, fraud, embezzlement, breach of trust, foreign exchange transaction violations, and other administrative law issues.

Audit Response

In recent years, the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea has expanded its audit scope to directly impact companies involved in defense procurement, solar energy, and other industries, beyond the traditional scope of public institutions and individual civil servants. Consequently, companies that are not official audit targets may still face requests for data submission or appearances, leading to potential significant losses due to audit outcomes.

Mr. Kwon Gi-dae, who served as Legal Support Team Leader in the Defense Procurement Special Audit Team at the Board of Audit and Inspection, has extensive experience with audit techniques, procedures, and decision-making processes. Gaon Law Firm’s Criminal Law Team provides optimal response strategies throughout the entire audit process, including advance preparation, responding to inquiries, presenting stakeholders’ positions, and participating in audit committee hearings.