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  December 12th, 2017 | Written by

Ex-Chair of Hanjin Shipping Gets Jail Time

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  • The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Choi Eun-young violated laws that ban insider trading.
  • Hanjin ex-chair Choi was ordered to pay a $1.09 million fine.
  • Hanjin’s collapse was the biggest ever to hit the shipping industry and cost creditors over $10 billion.

A court in Seoul, South Korea sentenced the former chairwoman of the defunct Hanjin Shipping Co. to a year and half in jail for selling her family’s shares in the shipping company just before it announced a debt restructuring plan.

The South Korean news agency Yonhap is reporting that the Seoul Central District Court ruled that Choi Eun-young, 55, violated laws that ban insider trading. Choi was also ordered to pay a $1.09 million fine. In handing down the sentence, the court considered the fact that Choi has already paid most of the fine and has taken responsibility for her actions.

Choi was indicted last December for selling the shares held by her and her daughters, avoiding a loss of around $1 million.

Hanjin filed for court receivership in April 2016 after it failed to renegotiate its debt with its 180 creditors. The court declared Hanjin bankrupt in February 2017 and proceeded to liquidate its assets. Hanjin’s collapse was the biggest ever to hit the shipping industry and cost creditors over $10 billion.

Choi is the wife of the late Cho Su-ho, younger brother of Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho. She took over the management of Hanjin Shipping in 2006 after her husband’s death and headed the company until April 2014.