A South Korean court has sentenced a 90-year-old woman to one year in prison for laundering money linked to her jailed son, the Korea Herald reported. The Incheon District Court also ordered the forfeiture of 386 million won (about $260,000, €220,000), which prosecutors say the defendant received and transferred on her son’s behalf.
Prosecutors allege the woman received the 386 million won from unidentified individuals on nine occasions between April 2020 and February 2022 and moved the cash into accounts designated for her son. Her son, in his 60s, was arrested in Cambodia in July 2020 on charges including methamphetamine possession and remains imprisoned there. Investigators believe his trafficking activities continued while he was incarcerated.
The court concluded the woman knowingly handled funds tied to narcotics offenses. Judges noted she had traveled to Cambodia five times in 2019 and was informed by phone of her son’s detention, rejecting her claim that she was unaware of the illicit source of the money. The ruling said her conduct obstructed efforts to trace criminal proceeds and helped perpetuate drug distribution, making the offense particularly serious.
When handing down the one-year prison term, the court took into account her advanced age and that she had no prior drug-related convictions.