By Jhoo Dong-chan
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's (SPO) renowned music director Chung Myung-whun's elder brother has been ordered to pay 3.9 billion won ($3.4 million) in compensation to Incheon Metropolitan Government, Wednesday, for his embezzlement and breach of trust in an art center project in the city.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Chung Myung-keun, 73, embezzled money from Incheon & Art, a special purpose company set up by the city to build an art center in Songdo.
The company and the city sued Chung, saying he caused 5 billion won in losses from 2007 to 2009 when he was leading the company at the beginning of the project.
He set up two more companies and fabricated contracts as if they were for work by subcontractors for Incheon & Art, then borrowed 4.1 billion won from banks using the false contract as collateral.
In 2012, the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office indicted him for pocketing billions of won from the loan and from the city's subsidies, and Chung was sentenced to five years in prison by a local court.
A higher court reduced the term to three years and the Supreme Court upheld that decision.
Incheon & Art filed the compensation suit following the Supreme Court decision.
The plaintiff's younger brother, Maestro Chung, was also accused of abusing his privileges in the SPO, and a civic group sued him in March for embezzling more than 50 million won ($45,000) from the orchestra.
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's (SPO) renowned music director Chung Myung-whun's elder brother has been ordered to pay 3.9 billion won ($3.4 million) in compensation to Incheon Metropolitan Government, Wednesday, for his embezzlement and breach of trust in an art center project in the city.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Chung Myung-keun, 73, embezzled money from Incheon & Art, a special purpose company set up by the city to build an art center in Songdo.
The company and the city sued Chung, saying he caused 5 billion won in losses from 2007 to 2009 when he was leading the company at the beginning of the project.
He set up two more companies and fabricated contracts as if they were for work by subcontractors for Incheon & Art, then borrowed 4.1 billion won from banks using the false contract as collateral.
In 2012, the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office indicted him for pocketing billions of won from the loan and from the city's subsidies, and Chung was sentenced to five years in prison by a local court.
A higher court reduced the term to three years and the Supreme Court upheld that decision.
Incheon & Art filed the compensation suit following the Supreme Court decision.
The plaintiff's younger brother, Maestro Chung, was also accused of abusing his privileges in the SPO, and a civic group sued him in March for embezzling more than 50 million won ($45,000) from the orchestra.
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