High court reduces sentence for Lotte founder‘s daughter over embezzlement

A Seoul appellate court on Wednesday lowered the jail term for the daughter of the Lotte Group founder charged with embezzlement and breach of trust.

The Seoul High Court handed down a two-year sentence on Shin Young-ja, head of the Lotte Foundation, saying that it allowed for the fact that she has paid back most of the misappropriated funds.

Shin, 75, was sentenced to three years in prison in January for receiving bribes from various companies in return for business favors related to Lotte's duty-free shops and department store for over eight years.

The lower court ordered Shin to forfeit 1.14 billion won ($1.28 million) she illegally pocketed. 

Overturning the initial verdict, the appeals court found her not guilty of taking some 840 million won from the head of a midsized cosmetics chain in exchange for helping him win "a good spot" for its store located in a Lotte Department Store.

"There is insufficient evidence to prove the money was paid in return for an illicit favor and that it is too unclear to determine it as the defendant's profits," the court said.

The court upheld the earlier guilty ruling on Shin that she received 500 million won from another firm in return for helping it open a sushi bar in the department store.

It also found her guilty of letting her son get business deals from Lotte and get paid his salary when he was not working for the company.

Shin is the eldest daughter of Shin Kyuk-ho, the founder of the South Korean retail giant. Her 95-year-old father and current group Chairman Shin Dong-bin are also currently standing trial without detention over a string of corruption charges. (Yonhap)