Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin joins Samsung’s de facto chief to prison after being found guilty of playing a role in a huge political corruption scandal.
A South Korean court has sent another of the country’s most powerful bosses to jail.
Shin Dong-bin, the billionaire chairman of conglomerate Lotte Group, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison after he was found guilty of bribery Tuesday.
The trial of Shin, 62, followed a huge influence-peddling scandal that gripped the country and brought down the government of former President Park Geun-hye .
Shin was found guilty of bribing a close confidante of Park. Prosecutors said Lotte donated 7 billion won ($6.4 million) to a foundation linked to Park’s friend and received a government license for its duty free business in return.
Shin has denied any wrongdoing. In an interview with CNN last year, he said he wasn’t worried about ending up behind bars because he’s innocent.
Now he’s become the latest example of the cozy ties between South Korea’s business and political elites. The scandal involving the former president and the country’s biggest companies brought hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets in late 2016.
In the reckoning that followed, Lee Jae-yong, the de facto head of the Samsung ( SSNLF) business empire, was found guilty of bribery and other charges in August.
