[Exclusive] Former Hi-Mart Chairman Seon Jong-gu Sentenced to 5 Years Imprisonment Flees Abroad

by Cho Seongpill

Published 27 Apr.2022 10:38(KST)

Updated 27 Apr.2022 16:45(KST)

Departure to the United States in August Last Year

Seon Jong-gu, Former Chairman of Hi-Mart

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] It has been confirmed that Sun Jong-gu, former chairman of Lotte Hi-Mart, who was sentenced to prison for causing company losses worth thousands of billions of won during the sale of Hi-Mart, is currently staying overseas instead of being imprisoned. Earlier, on the 31st of last month, the Supreme Court upheld the original sentence of 5 years imprisonment and a fine of 30 billion won against former Chairman Sun, who was indicted for breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. Although nearly a month has passed since the prison sentence was confirmed, the sentence has not yet been executed.

According to a comprehensive report by Asia Economy on the 27th, it was revealed that former Chairman Sun left for the United States immediately after the retrial sentencing in August last year. At that time, he was sentenced in the retrial to 5 years imprisonment, a fine of 30 billion won, and a confiscation of about 230 million won for causing losses to the company by allowing the acquirer, private equity fund AEP (Affinity Equity Partners), to establish a mortgage on Hi-Mart-owned real estate when providing acquisition funds through the special purpose company (SPC) Hi-Mart Holdings during the 2005 sale of Hi-Mart.

The prosecution confirmed this fact while trying to locate former Chairman Sun for sentence execution immediately after the Supreme Court's final ruling. However, although former Chairman Sun left for the United States last year, it has not yet been determined which country he is currently staying in. The prosecution has canceled his passport and requested Interpol to issue a red notice. A red notice is the strongest measure among Interpol's wanted stages. Related information such as the suspect's photo and fingerprints is shared with judicial authorities in about 190 Interpol member countries. The prosecution plans to cooperate with Interpol to arrest former Chairman Sun and forcibly repatriate him to Korea.

Initially, there were concerns inside and outside the prosecution that if the Democratic Party's 'Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights (Geomsu Wanbak)' bill passed, there would inevitably be difficulties in executing the sentence against former Chairman Sun. The original Geomsu Wanbak bill left only the prosecution's authority to supervise and direct the execution of trials. The status of judicial police management was also abolished, making it practically impossible to execute sentences for those like former Chairman Sun who have not served prison terms. However, this amendment was removed in the Geomsu Wanbak bill that passed the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee.