Lotte chief freed as appeals court suspends sentence

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin was released from jail on Friday after an appellate court suspended his sentence on bribery charges, ending an eight-month leadership vacuum at the country's fifth-largest conglomerate.

The Seoul High Court sentenced Shin, 63, to 2 1/2 years in prison, suspended for four years. Shin had been in a detention center since February over involvement in a corruption scandal that led to the ousting of former President Park Geun-hye last year.

"I am sorry that I've caused concern to the public," he told reporters as he left the Seoul Detention Center. "I will work harder from now on."

   The lower court sentenced him to 30 months in prison for giving 7 billion won (US$6.2 million) in bribes to a nonprofit foundation controlled by Choi Soon-sil, Park's old friend at the heart of the scandal, also now in jail.

The appeals court on Friday ruled in line with the lower court's judgment that the conglomerate gave the money to win government blessing for its duty-free business.

But it ruled that Shin made the decision "passively" for fear that refusing Choi's request would hurt Lotte's interests.

The appeals court also found him guilty on the charge of breach of trust for giving undue favor to a business run by his father's mistress, as the lower court has ruled.

But it cleared Shin of some of the embezzlement charges that he had Lotte affiliates pay fake wages to his family members who never worked for the companies. It agreed with the defendant's argument that his father and group founder, Shin Kyuk-ho, had made all the decisions and he only followed his father's orders.

The high court commuted the sentence for the 96-year-old patriarch by one year to three years, and maintained the lower court's decision not to detain him, given his advanced age and that he suffers from dementia.

The court reversed the lower courts' verdicts and suspended the sentences for the elder Shin's mistress and his eldest daughter charged with embezzlement and breach of trust.

"We respect the court's wise decision. Lotte will work on issues that could not proceed smoothly, while making more efforts to become a company that contributes to the national economy and fulfills its social responsibilities," Lotte Corp., the retail giant's holding firm, said in a statement released after the ruling.

In October 2016, Shin unveiled a set of reform measures, including a plan to invest 40 trillion won and hire 70,000 new employees in the next five years, following the prosecution's investigation into the conglomerate's corporate crime allegations.

The plan, however, has been largely stalled following the group chief's imprisonment.