Police clear Maestro Chung of embezzlement allegations

Published : Aug 4, 2016 - 13:13 Updated : Aug 4, 2016 - 14:32

Police on Thursday said Maestro Chung Myung-whun, embroiled in a rumor scandal over the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, has been cleared of suspicions he embezzled orchestra's assets for personal expenses.

Last year, two civic groups filed a petition with the Jongno Police Station after local broadcaster MBC reported allegations of the conductor siphoning off some tens of millions of won by exaggerating the cost of plane tickets he purchased.

After analyzing the 63-year-old's travel records and receipts of tickets purchased between 2005 and 2015, police concluded that there was no wrongdoing.

Police said they will send the case to the prosecution Friday, recommending a non-indictment.

South Korean Maestro Chung Myung-whun, a former conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO), appears before a police station in Seoul on July 15, 2016, for questioning over allegations of embezzlement while in office. He resigned as the SPO conductor in December as the allegations flared up. (Yonhap)

The announcement came about three weeks after Chung appeared before the police station in central Seoul to be questioned over the suspicions.

Earlier in July, the maestro was also summoned by state prosecutors over a legal battle with a former SPO president on his wife's defamation allegations.

Amid the wrangling, he resigned as the orchestra's music director in December after a decade of service. (Yonhap)