Lotte Group Chairman gets suspended prison sentence

SEOUL: A Seoul court on Friday found Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin guilty of breach of trust and sentenced him to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years, leaving him free to try and revive the conglomerate after steep losses in China. The Seoul Central District Court cleared the executive of some counts of breach of trust and also of embezzlement. “I apologize to the public,” Shin said as he left court, without commenting further. The ruling will come as a relief to the retail-to-chemicals group at the end of a difficult year during which it became the highest-profile corporate victim of a Beijing-Seoul spat over South Korea’s installation of a US missile defence system. South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate said, “We respect the court’s decision. Lotte Group executives and employees will further unite to contribute to economic progress and do our best to meet our social responsibility.” — Reuters