Chairman Lee Hae-uk of DL Group Confirmed to Pay 200 Million Won Fine for 'Unfair Support' Allegations

Lee Hae-wook, chairman of DL Group, who was prosecuted for unfairly supporting group affiliates, has been sentenced to a fine by the Supreme Court.

Lee Hae-wook, chairman of DL Group, who was indicted on charges of unfairly supporting a private company by mobilizing group affiliates, is attending the first trial sentencing hearing held on July 27, 2021, at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

On the 31st, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Lee Dong-won) upheld the lower court's ruling that sentenced Chairman Lee to a fine of 200 million won in the final appeal trial on charges of violating the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. DL Group and Glad Hotel & Resort, the corporations also indicted together, were fined 50 million won and 30 million won respectively. The court dismissed the appeals of Chairman Lee and others, stating, "There was no failure to conduct necessary hearings or misinterpretation of relevant laws in the second trial."

Previously, Chairman Lee was prosecuted on charges of violating the Fair Trade Act by transferring the trademark rights of the group’s hotel brand 'GLAD' to APD, a company wholly owned by him and his son, and allowing the subsidiary Ora Tourism (now Glad Hotel & Resort) to use it. He was also charged with having Ora Tourism pay approximately 3.1 billion won in fees to APD under the name of brand usage rights.

The Fair Trade Commission regarded the fees paid by Ora Tourism to APD as excessively high and considered it an "unfair provision of benefits to related parties" under the Fair Trade Act. In May 2019, the commission reported Chairman Lee and related companies to the prosecution. After receiving the report and reviewing the case, the prosecution indicted Chairman Lee and others in December of the same year. Chairman Lee claimed innocence throughout the trial process.

The first trial court found Chairman Lee guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 200 million won. The first trial court stated, "The defendant likely anticipated the possibility of illegality during the business process." The second trial court also agreed with this judgment. The second trial court added, "The family of the group head used affiliates to appropriate private interests," "They confessed to the crime during the investigation but reversed their position during the trial," and "They denied the crime with implausible statements up to the appeal trial." The Supreme Court also upheld the second trial's ruling on the same day.

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