Former Taekwang Group chief gets 3-year jail term for embezzlement
Former Taekwang Group Chairman Lee Ho-jin enters the courtroom for a hearing at the Seoul High Court in southern Seoul, Feb. 15. Yonhap
A Seoul appellate court on Friday sentenced former Taekwang Group Chairman Lee Ho-jin to three years in prison for embezzlement.
Chances are high that Lee's sentence will be confirmed by the top court later. In October last year, the Supreme Court ordered the case to be reviewed citing procedural errors regarding some of the tax evasion charges.
Lee was accused of siphoning off 20.6 billion won (US$18.2 million) of company funds by doctoring output figures in Taekwang's textile business. He was also charged for allegedly evading 560 million won in taxes.
Regarding the tax evasion charges, the Seoul High Court sentenced him to six months in prison, suspended for two years.
He was originally sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison. But he was freed in May 2011 after only serving two months in jail as the court approved his bail request on grounds of health problems and suspended his confinement.
But speculation mounted last year that he might have lied to the court about his health to be released from detention. Lee was spotted by some local media eating snacks outside. In December, the court withdrew bail, and Lee was taken into custody.
Taekwang, a textile-to-media conglomerate with 8 trillion won in assets, is South Korea's 36th largest firm as of 2018. (Yonhap)