Former Daejoo Group Chairman Heo Jaeho (83), who was forcibly repatriated from New Zealand, will stand trial next month on charges of tax evasion. The trial, which had been delayed for a long period after he failed to appear even once since being indicted in 2019, will resume after a one-year suspension.
Former Daejoo Group Chairman Heo Jaeho, who was staying in New Zealand, was repatriated to South Korea through Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport on the 27th of last month. Photo by Yonhap News
According to legal sources on June 15, the 11th Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Songhyun) has scheduled Heo's trial for July 4 on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (tax-related offenses). The proceedings had been repeatedly postponed and rescheduled before being suspended in June of last year.
Heo left for New Zealand in August 2015 while a prosecution investigation was underway, and was forcibly repatriated last month through extradition procedures. He is currently detained at Gwangju Detention Center and is expected to appear in court for the first time since his detention. On the day of his repatriation, he filed for release from detention, and the following day, he applied for bail; both requests were denied.
Heo is accused of failing to pay over 500 million won in capital gains tax during the sale of stocks under borrowed names in 2007. Previously, he became the subject of controversy over "luxury labor sentences" after fleeing without paying a 25.4 billion won fine, returning to Korea in 2014, and being ordered to serve time in a workhouse at a rate of 500 million won per day. In addition to the current case, Heo is also under police investigation for allegedly embezzling approximately 10 billion won and transferring it to a golf course in Damyang, South Jeolla Province.
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