By Kim Tae-jong
The prosecution sought a six-year prison term against former SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, 53, on embezzlement charges in an appeals trial on Monday.
The term is longer than the four-year sentence handed down to him by a lower court in January.
The court found Chey guilty of embezzling 49.7 billion won ($44.7 million) in company fund from SK Telecom and other SK Group affiliates after transferring the money to an investment firm headed by a former SK executive to buy stock futures and options in 2008.
The prosecution’s action is apparently designed to deflect criticism that it was too lenient with the tycoon during the first trial.
It also reflected President Park Geun-hye’s commitment to eliminate unfair business practices by family-run conglomerates under the slogan of “economic democratization.”
“As a final decision-maker, he played a leading role to commit the carefully and systematically planned crime,” a prosecutor said in the trial at the Seoul High Court, seeking the tougher sentence against Choi.
He also said there is no factor that should be taken into consideration to commute a sentence against Chey, who repeatedly changed his testimony and tried to cover up his crime, a behavior that mocked and derided the justice system.
The high court is scheduled to make a ruling in the Choi case on Aug. 9.
Chey, who inherited the country's third-largest conglomerate from his father, allegedly misappropriated the money with the help of his younger brother Jae-won, who serves as a senior vice chairman of the business group.
But they asked for a five-year sentence for his younger brother, the same term as requested in the lower court trial.
Previously, the lower court delivered a not guilty verdict against the younger brother, saying testimonies against him had no credibility.