The top court has upheld lower court rulings that convicted former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's cousin of embezzlement and other charges.

This marks the first final court ruling in the corruption scandal involving the former minister's family. 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a four-year prison sentence for Cho Beom-dong and a fine of 50 million won on 21 charges, including embezzling while managing a private equity fund and violating the capital market law.

The top court also echoed lower courts' judgment that did not recognize the charge that Cho had colluded with the former minister's wife, Chung Kyung-shim, who invested 500 million won in his asset management firm, Co-Link Private Equity.