S.Korea's appeals court suspends Lotte Group chief's jail sentence (updated)

Lotte

05/10/2018 09:39

(Adds details, Lotte statement)
    By Haejin Choi
    SEOUL, Oct 5 (Reuters) - A South Korean appeals court said
on Friday it found the chairman of Lotte Group guilty of charges
including bribery and breach of trust, but suspended his jail
term, setting him free.
    A lower court had sentenced Shin Dong-bin in February to two
years and six months in prison for his role in an
influence-peddling scandal that roiled the country and led to
the ouster of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1Q32Z0
    Shin appealed and the Seoul High Court on Friday upheld his
conviction, but suspended the jail sentence for four years,
freeing him after more than seven months in detention. 
    Shin was convicted for providing 7 billion won ($6.20
million) to two foundations controlled by the former president's
close friend in return for favors to win a duty free license.
    The Seoul High Court said in its decision that Shin's crime
resulted from a request by the former president.
    "It could have been difficult for Shin to directly decline
President's request as she was the country's highest power," the
court said.        
    Lotte Group said it welcomed the court's decision to release
its chairman. 
    "Lotte will strive to contribute to the country's economy
and to become a firm that takes full social responsibility," it
said in a statement. 
    Samsung Group's de-facto leader Jay Y. Lee was also
convicted of corruption in the same bribery scandal. 
    But he later became a free man back in February after the
appeal court suspended his sentence.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1PV2N2
($1 = 1,129.8200 won)

 (Reporting by Haejin Choi; additional reporting by Heekyong
Yang, Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Darren Schuettler)
 ((Haejin.Choi@thomsonreuters.com;))