A Seoul appellate court has upheld a four-year prison sentence for Chung Kyung-shim, the wife of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who was indicted on a series of corruption charges.

The Seoul High Court on Wednesday kept the same sentence as a lower court on 15 charges, including obstruction of duty, forging a private document, and violating the capital market act.

The appeals court, however, reduced the 500-million-won fine to 50 million won and the 140-million-won forfeiture to ten million won.

Recognizing all charges of academic fraud related to her daughter's college admission, the court said Chung obstructed an educational institution's admissions process and seriously damaged public trust in its fairness.

The court recognized some of the charges Chung faced related to private equity fund(PEF) investments but dismissed embezzlement suspicions.