Hyundai Bribery Scandal Sends 7 to Prison
A South Korean Court sentenced seven people to prison sentences for accepting bribery from the country`s leading automotive manufacturer, Hyundai Motors, in return for business favours. This sentence was given a week before the company`s chairman, Chung Mong-koo, is scheduled to appear in court to be sentenced, following the court`s prior decision that found him guilty of embezzlement and breach of trust. Hyundai is the world`s seventh largest automotive manufacturer and dominates over 70% of the South Korean market.
Seoul`s Central District Court found seven people, including, Park Sang-Bae, a former Deputy Governor of the South Korean Development Bank, guilty of accepting bribery. Park Sang-Bae was sentenced to six years imprisonment for accepting a $1.54 million from Kim Dong-Hoon, a former accountant at Hyundai, who mitigated between Hyundai and those who were bribed. Kim Dong-Hoon was himself sentenced to two years imprisonment for bribing government officials, bankers and others, in an attempt to minimize the debt Hyundai has sustained on one of its failing business in 2002. The remaining 5 people found guilty were sentenced to shorter jail time. The court acquitted Byeon Yang-ho, a former financial policy director at the Ministry of Finance, of accepting $200 thousand for helping car manufacturer. The judge said that it can not accept Kim Dong-Hoon`s testimony, which the prosecution used as its sole evidence against Byeon Yang-ho, since it was inconsistent.
The prosecution is asking the chairman Chung Mong-koo be sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, for the embezzlement of $106 million, used to bribe politicians and other figures. The prosecution also raised suspicions that Chung Mong-koo used the money to facilitate the illegal transfer of Hyundai`s management and assets to his son. If found guilty on all charges Chung Mong-koo may face a life sentence, but prominent business people who were on trial in the past received relatively light sentences.
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