'Using Company Funds for Yacht and Camper Van' Lee Jaehwan, Former CJ Vice Chairman, Receives Suspended Sentence in Second Trial
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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Lee Jaehwan, former vice chairman and younger brother of CJ Group Chairman Lee Jaehyun, was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the appellate court for embezzlement and breach of trust involving around 2 billion KRW, including purchasing a yacht with company funds.
On the 16th, according to the legal community, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 9 (Presiding Judge Moon Gwangseop) sentenced former Vice Chairman Lee to 2 years in prison with a 3-year suspension, the same as the first trial, on charges of embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Previously, former Vice Chairman Lee was prosecuted for embezzling and breaching trust involving a total of about 2.7 billion KRW of company funds while working as CEO of Jaesang Communications and CJ Powercast, and as head of the HR team at CJ CheilJedang.
It was investigated that in 2016, he purchased a yacht for personal use with 1.4 billion KRW of company funds, and between 2012 and 2013, he bought a passenger car worth about 110 million KRW and a camping car worth about 150 million KRW with company money. Additionally, he housed his personal secretaries near his residence, accompanied them on private schedules such as massages, saunas, walks, and exercise, effectively treating them as personal secretaries while paying their salaries with company funds.
During the trial, former Vice Chairman Lee claimed that "the yacht was purchased for business purposes targeting advertisers" and denied embezzlement, but this was not accepted.
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The first trial recognized most of the charges as guilty and sentenced him to a suspended prison term. It stated, "Although the defendant had the duty as CEO to strictly and transparently supervise the company’s fund management and accounting, he used company funds for personal purposes," and "considered that he paid a deposit of 1.4 billion KRW as compensation for losses with personal funds, thereby reimbursing both actual losses and damages."
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