KWANG- TAE KIM/ Associated Press

Tuesday, May 20 2008

SEOUL, South Korea-- State prosecutors demanded Tuesday a six- year prison term for Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo after the Supreme Court ordered a resentencing in the auto tycoon's embezzlement convition.

The Seoul High Court last year suspended a three- year prison term handed to Chung by a lower court while upholding his guilty verdict for embezzlement and breach of trust. Prosecutors had originally sought six years.

The high court also ordered Chung to do public service in the form of delivering lectures and writing newspaper and magazine articles on lawful management, and to fulfill a promise to donate 1 trillion won ($957 million) of assets to society.

The court suspended Chung's prison term for five years, meaning he would not go to jail if he stays out of trouble during the period.

In their appeal to the Supreme Court, prosecutors said that lecture and writing were not proper activities for sentences involving community service. The top court last month agreed and sent the case back to the high court for a new sentence.

On Tuesday, prosecutor Yoon Dae- jin called Chung's case "grave" and said the high court should deal with it sternly.

Chung's lawyers pleaded with the new presiding judge to maintain the suspended three-year prison term, citing the executive's contribution to South Korea's economy and his importance to Hyundai's planned overseas investments.

"I will make my utmost efforst to ensure (Hyundai Motor) becomes a world- class corportation if I am given leniency," Chung said at the end of the hearing.

The new sentence was set to be handed down June 3, according to the court.

Chung was found guilyt in February last year on charges that he raised a $100 million slush fund from affiliates. Prosecutors said much of the money was used to pay lobbyists to gain government favors and for personal use.

The presiding judge who handed down the suspended prison term said at the time that CHung was too important to the nation's economy to go to prison.

Hyundai Motor is South Korea's biggest automaker and a key driver of the world's 13th- largest economy. Hyundai and affiliate Kia Motors Corp. together form the world's sixth- largest automotive group.

Hyundai shares declined 1.3 percent Tuesday to close at 87,100 won ($83).

Crooked Hyundai cheif gets no jail time from Korea high court

South Korea is working hard to crack down on corruption in its business sector, but the example-setting won't begin with Hyundai boss Chung Mong-koo. A Korean court gave Chung a three-year suspended sentence as punishment for embezzling monstrous sums of cash from the world's sixth largest automaker. Chung admitted to embezzling company money to pay off politicians, but that didn't stop the courts from going easy on the billionaire. The judge cited the fact that Chung used most of the embezzled money to run the business, but that answer isn't sitting well with many South Koreans looking for justice. Chung is a member of the chaebol, which is a group of families that control most of the wealth in South Korea. For all his wrong-doing, Chung spent a grand total of two months behind bars, and he's been ordered to donate $828 million. It's good to be rich apparently, at least in Korea.

Posted Jun 3rd 2008 4:30PM by Chris Shunk
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd, Photo by HONG JIN-HWAN/AFP/Getty]

$$$$ is the Free Jail ticket...?

A top Hyundai executive was convicted of delivering cash to a political candidate in 2002.

With charges flying - Hyundai executives are also suspected of embezzlement, tax evasion, misuse of public funds, and illegally transferring stock ownership - the company announced it would make a $1 billion donation to social-welfare programs to atone for illicit activities and restore public confidence. It also apologized for failing to meet its "social obligations" and causing public concern. But the Chungs failed to admit any wrongdoing, and their offer of charity apparently was not enough to deter prosecutors.)