ID :
18830
Wed, 09/10/2008 - 16:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/18830
The shortlink copeid
Prosecutor seeks 7 years in jail for former Samsung Group chief
SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Yonhap) -- A special prosecutor on Wednesday demanded seven years in jail for former Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who was spared a prison term in a lower court for tax evasion.
In the Seoul High Court, special prosecutor Cho Joon-woong pressed for the jail
sentence and a 350-billion-won (US$320 million) fine, which he had previously
sought for Lee, 66, who resigned following his indictment in April.
"Former Chairman Lee and other defendants are the key members of the top
corporate circles spearheading the Korean economy," Cho told judges in the
final hearing. "Please make a decision that will wash away the unsoundness
inside conglomerates."
Lee was convicted of tax evasion in the lower court's ruling in July, but more
serious charges of breach of trust were dismissed. The court sentenced him to
three years in jail with a five-year suspension and a fine of 110 billion won.
In an independent probe sanctioned by parliament, the prosecutor charged Lee with
evading 112.8 billion won of taxes by hiding assets under borrowed-name stock
accounts between 2000-2006 and orchestrating a controversial wealth transfer to
his son and heir apparent, Jae-yong, in the mid-1990s.
In the father-to-son transfer, Jae-yong acquired convertible bonds of the theme
park Everland, Samsung's de-facto holding company, and shares of other Samsung
affiliates at "remarkably low" prices, the prosecutor said. The
bargain takeover helped him acquire group control without paying taxes, meanwhile
causing tremendous losses to shareholders, he said.
The lower court said, however, that Everland shareholders' losses do not
constitute breach of trust by Lee.
The prosecutor also sought three- to five-year prison sentences for former Vice
Chairman Lee Hak-soo and six other Samsung executives who either received
suspended sentences or were acquitted in July.
Civic activists had denounced the lower court ruling as "shameful,"
saying it reversed Korea's decade-long efforts to increase transparency in
family-controlled conglomerates and cleared the way for other tycoons to transfer
their wealth to their children without paying taxes.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
In the Seoul High Court, special prosecutor Cho Joon-woong pressed for the jail
sentence and a 350-billion-won (US$320 million) fine, which he had previously
sought for Lee, 66, who resigned following his indictment in April.
"Former Chairman Lee and other defendants are the key members of the top
corporate circles spearheading the Korean economy," Cho told judges in the
final hearing. "Please make a decision that will wash away the unsoundness
inside conglomerates."
Lee was convicted of tax evasion in the lower court's ruling in July, but more
serious charges of breach of trust were dismissed. The court sentenced him to
three years in jail with a five-year suspension and a fine of 110 billion won.
In an independent probe sanctioned by parliament, the prosecutor charged Lee with
evading 112.8 billion won of taxes by hiding assets under borrowed-name stock
accounts between 2000-2006 and orchestrating a controversial wealth transfer to
his son and heir apparent, Jae-yong, in the mid-1990s.
In the father-to-son transfer, Jae-yong acquired convertible bonds of the theme
park Everland, Samsung's de-facto holding company, and shares of other Samsung
affiliates at "remarkably low" prices, the prosecutor said. The
bargain takeover helped him acquire group control without paying taxes, meanwhile
causing tremendous losses to shareholders, he said.
The lower court said, however, that Everland shareholders' losses do not
constitute breach of trust by Lee.
The prosecutor also sought three- to five-year prison sentences for former Vice
Chairman Lee Hak-soo and six other Samsung executives who either received
suspended sentences or were acquitted in July.
Civic activists had denounced the lower court ruling as "shameful,"
saying it reversed Korea's decade-long efforts to increase transparency in
family-controlled conglomerates and cleared the way for other tycoons to transfer
their wealth to their children without paying taxes.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
