SK Supex Council Chairman Cho Dae-sik Indicted Without Detention for 90 Billion Won Embezzlement... Chairman Chey Tae-won 'No Charges' (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporters Baek Kyunghwan and Kim Hyungmin] Cho Dae-sik, the second-in-command of SK Group and chairman of the SK Supex Council, has been indicted on charges of breach of trust involving approximately 90 billion KRW. Alongside him, Cho Kyung-mok, CEO of SK Energy, Choi Tae-eun, former head of SKC's Management Support Division, and Ahn Seung-yoon, CEO of SK Telesciences, were also prosecuted.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won underwent a written investigation by prosecutors but was not indicted as no collusion with Chairman Cho and others was found.

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jeon Jun-cheol) indicted Chairman Cho on the 25th without detention on charges of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Following the arrest and indictment of SK Networks Chairman Choi Shin-won in March on embezzlement and breach of trust charges, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 continued its investigation and brought additional charges against these individuals. Prosecutors believe Chairman Cho and others conspired under Chairman Choi's instructions.

Chairman Cho and former head Choi are accused of colluding with Chairman Choi Shin-won between June and September 2012, when SK Telesciences faced bankruptcy risk, by failing to provide SKC's outside directors with management diagnosis results and submitting false or incomplete reports regarding self-rescue plans. They then obtained board approval to have SKC participate in a paid-in capital increase of approximately 19.9 billion KRW in SK Telesciences.

Later, in 2015, when SK Telesciences again faced bankruptcy risk, Chairman Cho, CEO Cho, and former head Choi reportedly obtained board approval in the same manner to have SKC participate in a paid-in capital increase of approximately 70 billion KRW in SK Telesciences.

Prosecutors also conducted written investigations of Chairman Chey Tae-won to determine whether he conspired with Chairman Cho and others but concluded there was no evidence of wrongdoing and did not indict him.

While it is true that Chairman Chey pre-approved SKC's participation in the paid-in capital increase, prosecutors explained that there was no evidence he was informed of the detailed progress or conspired in the breach of trust.

A prosecutor stated, "At the time in 2015, Chairman Chey was incarcerated and it was confirmed that he approved the capital increase participation because he anticipated that refusing Chairman Choi's request to participate in SK Telesciences' capital increase could lead to management disputes, which might negatively affect his own pardon efforts."

The SK side maintains that since SK Telesciences returned to net profit from the following year thanks to SKC's participation in the capital increase, this should be regarded as a normal business activity.

Regarding this, a prosecutor commented, "Although it appeared that profits temporarily improved due to focused support from affiliates to SK Telesciences, support from the group was cut off due to fair trade issues, and SK Telesciences remains in a capital deficit state, making independent recovery impossible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.