Ex -STX chief Kang hints at rebuilding troubled conglomerate

Published : Oct 14, 2015 - 20:17 Updated : Oct 14, 2015 - 20:17

Former STX Group chairman Kang Duk-soo said Wednesday that he would think about rebuilding the troubled conglomerate whose some of its major affiliates suffering liquidity shortages and mounting debts.

Kang made the remarks after being released from prison in the day following a higher court's decision to give a suspended sentence to him for embezzlement and negligence of duty.

The Seoul High Court sentenced the business tycoon, who headed the group from 2003 to February 2014, to three years in prison, suspended for four years, for diverting funds from STX affiliates to illegally support other ailing firms, mostly STX Construction Co. and his personal firm.

Ex-STX Group chairman Kang Duk-soo speaks to reporters on Wednesday. (Yonhap)

"Considering the size of the crimes and the impact they have on our economy, strong punishment is inevitable but it seems like it was an unavoidable choice (for Kang) in order to revive the group," Yonhap News quoted judge Kim Sang-joon sas saying.

He was also convicted of other embezzlement charges but the court acquitted Kang of committing accounting fraud citing a lack of evidence.

Kang is well known for his rise from a salaried worker at a cement company to chairman of STX Group. He had expanded the conglomerate through corporate mergers and acquisitions. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)