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Park Tae-young, president of Hite Jinro (photo=Hite Jinro) |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Minyoung] Hite Jinro CEO Park Tae-young, who was sent to trial on charges of unfairly funneling work to a specific affiliate, was confirmed guilty.
According to legal circles on the 3rd, the first division of the Supreme Court (Supreme Court Justice Roh Tae-ak) confirmed one year and three months in prison and one-year probation for Park, who was accused of violating the Fair Trade Act. Kim In-kyu, CEO of Hite Jinro, who was also put on trial, was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years and fined 150 million won to Hite Jinro Corporation.
They were accused of driving about 4.3 billion won in work by inserting their affiliate Seoyoung E&T in the manufacturing and distribution of beer cans between 2008 and 2017. Seoyoung E&T is the largest shareholder of CEO Park and has a 99.91% stake in the family of CEO Park and his relatives. After sharply increasing sales through the method, Seoyoung E&T acquired a stake in Hite Jinro Holdings and became the second-largest shareholder after Hite Jinro Chairman Park Moon-deok.
The case was investigated when the Fair Trade Commission caught it and filed a complaint with the prosecution.
Alphabiz Kim Minyoung (kimmy@alphabiz.co.kr)
