Daewoo Founder Sentenced
#1
Lead Lap
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Daewoo Founder Sentenced
Daewoo Founder Sentenced to Prison Term
By BO-MI LIM, Associated Press Writer 44 minutes ago
SEOUL, South Korea - A Seoul court on Tuesday sentenced the founder and former chairman of collapsed conglomerate Daewoo to 10 years in prison for a range of charges including embezzlement and accounting fraud.
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The Seoul Central District Court said it also ordered Kim Woo-choong, 69, to forfeit more than 21 trillion won ($22 billion) and pay a fine of 10 million won ($10,600).
Kim was indicted in June last year on charges of multi-trillion won accounting fraud, illegal financing and diverting funds out of the country. He was also accused of embezzlement and breach of trust.
A severe sentence was "unavoidable" since Kim was engaged in activities that contributed to Daewoo Group's bankruptcy and hurt
South Korea's image abroad, the court said in the ruling.
"It is doubtful whether (Kim) is truly repentant as he tries to dodge the responsibility and justify his actions," the ruling said.
It wasn't immediately known whether Kim would appeal the ruling.
He was found guilty of the charges, including over 20 trillion won in accounting fraud, 9.8 trillion won worth of illegal financing, and diverting 19 trillion won out of the country, Judge Nho Yu-kyong said. He was also found to have embezzled $100 million, she said.
Kim started as a textile salesman in 1967, building an empire that came to stand among the largest conglomerates, or "chaebol," in South Korea.
Daewoo collapsed under massive debts in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, when the South Korean government was forced to accept a $58 billion
International Monetary Fund bailout.
Parts of Daewoo were broken up and sold, with Detroit-based General Motors Corp. acquiring a major stake in Daewoo Motor to create GM Daewoo in 2002.
Kim fled the country in 1999, living mostly in France, until returning to South Korea last June to face charges.
The court ruling was less severe than what prosecutors had sought. Earlier this month, prosecutors requested the court order Kim to serve 15 years in prison and forfeit 23.4 trillion won ($24.8 billion).
By BO-MI LIM, Associated Press Writer 44 minutes ago
SEOUL, South Korea - A Seoul court on Tuesday sentenced the founder and former chairman of collapsed conglomerate Daewoo to 10 years in prison for a range of charges including embezzlement and accounting fraud.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Seoul Central District Court said it also ordered Kim Woo-choong, 69, to forfeit more than 21 trillion won ($22 billion) and pay a fine of 10 million won ($10,600).
Kim was indicted in June last year on charges of multi-trillion won accounting fraud, illegal financing and diverting funds out of the country. He was also accused of embezzlement and breach of trust.
A severe sentence was "unavoidable" since Kim was engaged in activities that contributed to Daewoo Group's bankruptcy and hurt
South Korea's image abroad, the court said in the ruling.
"It is doubtful whether (Kim) is truly repentant as he tries to dodge the responsibility and justify his actions," the ruling said.
It wasn't immediately known whether Kim would appeal the ruling.
He was found guilty of the charges, including over 20 trillion won in accounting fraud, 9.8 trillion won worth of illegal financing, and diverting 19 trillion won out of the country, Judge Nho Yu-kyong said. He was also found to have embezzled $100 million, she said.
Kim started as a textile salesman in 1967, building an empire that came to stand among the largest conglomerates, or "chaebol," in South Korea.
Daewoo collapsed under massive debts in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, when the South Korean government was forced to accept a $58 billion
International Monetary Fund bailout.
Parts of Daewoo were broken up and sold, with Detroit-based General Motors Corp. acquiring a major stake in Daewoo Motor to create GM Daewoo in 2002.
Kim fled the country in 1999, living mostly in France, until returning to South Korea last June to face charges.
The court ruling was less severe than what prosecutors had sought. Earlier this month, prosecutors requested the court order Kim to serve 15 years in prison and forfeit 23.4 trillion won ($24.8 billion).
#7
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by GS3Tek
WTH was he thinking?
I misunderstood the title as being sentenced for coming out with such crappy cars
I misunderstood the title as being sentenced for coming out with such crappy cars
Daewoo also builds the Chevrolet Aveo sedan and hatchback for Chevrolet / GM. It is essentially a redone Daewoo Lanos subcompact. I have also driven that car....but it is not quite as nice as the Suzukis. It has a lot of engine noise.
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#8
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by diablo1
This article is about Daewoo, not Daihatsu.
I had caught it myself and deleted the post but apparantly not before you copied it.
#9
Originally Posted by mmarshall
Yes...I'm sorry...I made an error...I corrected it above.
I had caught it myself and deleted the post but apparantly not before you copied it.
I had caught it myself and deleted the post but apparantly not before you copied it.
#10
Super Moderator
Originally Posted by GS3Tek
WTH was he thinking?
I misunderstood the title as being sentenced for coming out with such crappy cars
I misunderstood the title as being sentenced for coming out with such crappy cars
#12
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by XeroK00L
Greed leads to ruins. I wonder if Hyundai will go down as well with their huge scandal.
#13
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It seems many of Korea's largest and most visible corporations are suffering from quite a few scandals. It's not very surprising for me, but I'm sure Hyundai will ride through it. Hyundai is pretty diversified with a very strong heavy industries sector like Mitsubishi.
I believe Samsung also just got through some very major scandals as well.
Gossip: I remember hearing the daughter of Samsung's chairman committed suicide sometime late last year?
I believe Samsung also just got through some very major scandals as well.
Gossip: I remember hearing the daughter of Samsung's chairman committed suicide sometime late last year?
#14
Out of Warranty
Originally Posted by Lexmex
Well, he made me a crappy DVD player (Region 4 for Mexico) and it went on the fritz the other night and finally went dead.
But there’s another story – one you didn’t see in the US. Matsu****a introduced VHS decks in Mexico about the same time Sony produced the Betamax. These first VHS machines used a single reel – like an old 8-track tape. The tape was a continuous loop, so it didn’t need to be rewound – just punch the “Record” button and you could record 2 to 4 hours from that point on. The tape was an endless loop that wound on itself, feeding new tape from the inside layer at the hub, through the heads, to be wrapped back on the outside of the reel.
Anyone who remembers the old 8-tracks knows that after a few plays, many cartridges jammed and/or the tape broke. The carts, in order to be built cheaply, couldn’t maintain the tight tolerances required for the feeding mechanism. Same thing happened – only worse with the more critical videotape cartridges. The ½” VHS tape was so poorly packaged that the units failed usually within a week. They were never sold . . . .anywhere but Mexico. Matsu****a, obviously trying to recover some of their investment, dumped the entire production run – at a bargain price south of the border. Meanwhile they developed a standard reel-to-reel cassette only slightly larger than the Betamax, and the rest is history.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. It seems that Mexican consumers, burned by this little scheme turned on Panasonic and JVC. Matsu****a products had earned the reputation of being junk and customers stayed away in droves. It was years before you could give away one of their branded products in Mexico. Sony managed to continue to sell Beta decks down there for years after they had abandoned the US market – and for once, the Mexican consumer came out a winner.
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