Hanwha Group Chairman
A Seoul appellate court convicted Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn for embezzlement and gave him a suspended prison sentence on February 11.
In a retrial held four months after the Supreme Court sent the case back, the Seoul High Court sentenced Kim to three years in prison with a five-year stay of execution.
Kim was found guilty of using company money to pay back debts to other firms he was running under borrowed names, causing hundreds of billions of won in losses to the 10th largest conglomerate in Korea.
Upholding a lower court’s decision, the court also ordered the Chairman to pay 5.1 billion won (US$4.5 million) in fines.
Judge Kim Ki-jeong said in his ruling, “The defendant has constantly made efforts to recover losses he caused to the conglomerate and deposited 159.7 billion won [US$149 million] of his private money.” He added that he took Kim’s poor health into consideration.
Chairman Kim, who was sent to prison immediately after the verdict was read in the district court, was released from prison in January 2013 after the court accepted his request to temporarily suspend his sentence.
The Chairman has since been staying at a Seoul hospital to receive treatment for breathing problems and manic depression.
The Supreme Court in September reversed an appeals court ruling against Kim on embezzlement charges, and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court to recalculate some of the financial damages incurred by the group.