A Seoul court has sentenced the former head of the National Tax Service’s Yongsan District Office to ten years in prison for pocketing money in return for covering up a tax investigation.

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday handed down the sentence for Yoon Woo-jin as well as a fine of around 32 million won, or almost 24 thousand U.S. dollars, on charges of violating the Attorney-at-Law Act.

The court did not, however, have Yoon arrested upon sentencing, citing the six months he had already spent behind bars earlier in the trial as well as other ongoing trials he is still facing for other charges.

The prosecution had sought a five-year prison sentence for Yoon in February, who is the elder brother of former senior prosecutor Yoon Dae-jin, said to be a close confidante of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The former tax agency director was indicted in 2021 on charges of violating the Attorney-at-Law Act by pocketing some 130 million won from two real estate developers based in Incheon between 2017 and 2018 in return for covering up tax probes.

He was released from prison last June while he was still on trial after his detention period expired.

He is also suspected of receiving 500 million won in bribes from a company in 2020 in return for mediating legal work.