Orion vice chairwoman convicted of embezzlement
By Park Si-soo
Lee Hwa-kyung / Yonhap
The vice chairwoman of South Korea’s major confectioner Orion has been convicted of embezzlement, a court on Friday.
Seoul Central District Court sentenced Lee Hwa-kyung to eight months in prison for embezzling company-owned paintings worth 420 million won ($371,000). The court suspended her prison term for two years because she returned the paintings and expressed remorse.
Lee was accused in July of taking two expensive paintings purchased with the company’s money to her home without permission, which amounted to embezzlement.
Lee displayed the paintings at her home from February 2014 to May 2015. She returned the paintings after she was accused.
“Her act was a serious crime because it took place when she was responsible for managing artworks in the company’s possession,” said Judge Hwang Gi-sun.
“The ruling was made after taking into consideration that the accused pledged not to repeat such an act and had returned the paintings to the company.”