Cho Hyun-bum, CEO of Hankook Tire & Technology (Former Hankook Tire), who was arrested and indicted on charges of receiving hundreds of millions of won worth of kickbacks from subcontractors and affiliates, was given a suspended jail term in the first trial.
The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Cho, who was indicted on charges of breach of trust, business embezzlement and violation of the Criminal Revenue Hidden Law, to three years in prison, suspended for four years on April 17. The court also imposed a fine of 615 million won (some $504,000).
The court said that Cho had raised funds for a long period of time and the amount received was very large, ruling “Regarding the money he received, he seems to have maintained a continuous transaction relationship with his partner companies, effectively allowing them to work conveniently."
Cho was indicted in December last year on charges of receiving hundreds of millions of won worth of kickbacks from his subcontractors and affiliates every month for nearly a decade.
Cho, the second son of former Hankook Tire Chairman Cho Yang-rae, joined Hankook Tire in 1998 and was appointed head of Hankook Tire in 2018.
Meanwhile, Cho Hyun-sik, vice chairman of Hankook Technology Group, who was also indicted, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years. Cho was accused of paying about 100 million won in false pay to his sister.
The court explained that it will suspend the execution of the sentence, considering that Vice Chairman Cho regretted the crime and returned all the amount of embezzlement.
