Suspended Prison Sentence Confirmed for Former Samyang Foods Chairman Over KRW 50 Billion False Tax Invoices

A suspended prison sentence has been finalized for former Samyang Foods Chairman Jeon In-jang, who was indicted on charges of creating tens of billions of won in false tax invoices while embezzling company funds through paper companies.

The Supreme Court's Second Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) finalized the lower court's ruling sentencing Jeon to three years in prison, suspended for five years, along with a fine of KRW 19.1 billion in the re-trial of his appeal on charges including violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes.

Samyang Foods and two of its affiliates, who were indicted alongside Jeon for violating the Punishment of Tax Evaders Act in connection with his crimes, each maintained their fines of KRW 10 million.

Jeon was indicted in December 2019 on charges including issuing KRW 53.8 billion in false invoices and tax invoices through two paper companies he operated between 2010 and 2017.

The first trial sentenced Jeon to three years in prison, suspended for five years, and a fine of KRW 19.1 billion.

The second trial found the charges under the Punishment of Tax Evaders Act not guilty and reduced the sentence to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, with a fine of KRW 650 million.

The appellate court judged that "the portion where the two affiliates engaged in external transactions should be viewed as conducting business with their own assets and responsibilities and paying value-added tax."

However, in February of last year, the Supreme Court overturned the appellate court's ruling, stating that the transaction portion previously deemed not guilty also constituted the issuance of false tax invoices, and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court.

At the time, the Supreme Court ruled, "The affiliates registered as businesses merely by borrowing the names of the paper companies without the intent to conduct actual business, and in the process of embezzlement, they transferred their sales to the paper companies while using the existing business registration under the paper companies' names to falsely issue and receive tax invoices."

The remand trial held in November of last year sentenced him to three years in prison, suspended for five years, and a fine of KRW 19.1 billion, identical to the first trial.

Previously, Jeon was sentenced to three years in prison, which was finalized by the Supreme Court, after being indicted on charges of siphoning off approximately KRW 4.9 billion between 2008 and 2017 by faking that Samyang Foods received some of the packaging boxes and food ingredients supplied by affiliates from paper companies instead.

Tax authorities initiated an investigation after detecting circumstances in which Jeon committed additional crimes, such as issuing false tax invoices through paper companies in the process of embezzling company funds.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.