'50 Billion Won Tax Evasion' Former BAT Korea CEO Acquitted in First Trial

The former CEO of a foreign tobacco company, who was prosecuted for manipulating shipment volumes just before a tobacco tax increase to evade a large amount of taxes, was acquitted in the first trial.

Seoul Central District Court. / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

On the 16th, the Criminal Division 25-3 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Ji Gui-yeon, Park Jeong-gil, Park Jeong-je) acquitted Guy Andrew Meldrum, the former CEO of British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea, who was indicted on charges of tax evasion under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Former CEO Meldrum was prosecuted in April 2019 for his involvement in falsely reporting the shipment of 24.63 million packs of cigarettes from a manufacturing plant in Sacheon, Gyeongnam, on December 31, 2014, the day before the tobacco tax increase, despite the cigarettes not actually being shipped. The prosecution claimed that through this method, the company evaded a total of 50.3 billion KRW in taxes, including 14.6 billion KRW in individual consumption tax (a national tax), 24.8 billion KRW in tobacco consumption tax (a local tax), and 10.9 billion KRW in local education tax.

The first trial verdict for former CEO Meldrum came more than four years after the indictment. He had left the country before the National Tax Service's tax investigation and did not participate in the investigation or trial until April of this year. The former executive vice president in charge of production and logistics, the former director in charge of logistics, and the BAT corporation, who were indicted together, had their trials earlier and were finally acquitted by the Supreme Court in November last year.

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