[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Jeong Han-geun (56), the fourth son of the late Jeong Tae-su, former chairman of Hanbo Group, who was arrested and brought to trial after 21 years of fleeing abroad, was sentenced to a heavy punishment again in the appellate court following the first trial.
The Criminal Division 8 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Lee Gyun-yong, Lee Seung-chul, Lee Byung-hee) on the 22nd dismissed Jeong’s appeal, who was indicted for embezzlement of property abroad under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and sentenced to seven years in prison in the first trial, and imposed the same sentence as the first trial. The court also upheld the confiscation order of approximately 40.13 billion won issued by the first trial court.
The court stated, "There is no error in the original judgment recognizing the defendant’s charges as guilty, and the sentencing judgment also appears appropriate."
The court also dismissed the prosecution’s appeal, which had requested a 12-year prison sentence for Jeong in both the first and second trials.
Jeong was indicted on charges of embezzling and hiding overseas about 32 billion won by fabricating the sale of 9 million shares of a Russian oil company owned by Dong-A Asia Gas, a subsidiary of Hanbo Group, in 1997. He sold the shares for 57.9 million dollars but falsely reported the sale as 25.2 million dollars.
He was also charged with violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act by illegally transferring money abroad without government permission.
However, the prosecution accepted Jeong’s claim that about 6 billion won among the charges was secretly embezzled by accomplices without his knowledge and excluded it from the charges.
Meanwhile, Jeong, who fled abroad during a prosecution investigation in 1988, was extradited to South Korea last June through joint investigations with the United States, Ecuador, and others after 21 years of evasion.
Previously, the Criminal Division 32 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Yoon Jong-seop) sentenced Jeong to seven years in prison and ordered the confiscation of approximately 40.13 billion won in April last year.
At that time, the court stated, "The defendant’s actions fall under property embezzlement abroad under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes," and "all charges are recognized as guilty." It added, "Considering that the defendant admitted all crimes except for some and is reflecting on his crimes," as the reason for sentencing.
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