9-year jail term sought for Hanwha chairman

By Kim Rahn

The prosecution Monday demanded a local court hand down a nine-year prison term and a 150 billion won fine to Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.

Kim, 60, allegedly embezzled hundreds of billions of won in company funds, inflicting losses to the firm.

“Kim made personal gains by evading tax and using false-name bank accounts. He also submitted false documents to investigators to disrupt the probe,” a prosecutor said in a hearing at the Seoul Western District Court.

“We are seeking the jail term and fine that are almost the maximum allowed under the law, so that we can show money will not work anymore,’’ the prosecution said.

“He kept claiming he didn’t know about the borrowed-name accounts, but it is a typical method used by a group CEO to avoid punishment and have lower-level executives punished only. Circumstances show he has managed them carefully,” the prosecutor added.

Kim is charged with having the group’s affiliates offer surety for the 320 billion won debt of a firm he owned under a false name as well as embezzling money through accounting fraud between 2004 and 2006. Prosecutors said the act caused 480 billion won in losses to the affiliates and Hanwha shareholders.

The prosecution made the same jail term request to the court in February, but the court delayed giving a verdict, citing the transfer of a presiding judge in the case to another court. The hearing recently resumed.

Prosecutors sought seven years in jail for Hong Dong-ok, CEO of Yeochun NCC, a Hanwha affiliate, on charges of helping Kim in his illegal money making scheme.

A ruling will be made on Aug. 16

In 2007, Kim was arrested and indicted for beating several men with steel pipes in revenge for a scuffle with his son at a bar. It was the first time for a conglomerate head to be arrested on charges of violence.