First trial found him guilty on all counts, but appeals court cleared him on some

Case sent back for retrial after top court flagged errors, restoring guilty finding

The Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. (Yonhap)
The Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. (Yonhap)

The Supreme Court has finalized the sentence handed to former Samyang Foods Chairman Jeon In-jang: three years in prison, suspended for five years, and a fine of 19.1 billion won. The sentence stems from his role in issuing false tax invoices worth 50 billion won ($37.4 million).

The Supreme Court's Second Division, presided over by Justice Oh Kyung-mi, held the final appeal sentencing hearing Thursday morning for Jeon. He faced charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes over issuing false tax invoices, as well as the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act. The court upheld the lower court's ruling of three years in prison, suspended for five years, and a 19.1 billion won fine.

"The lower court's judgment after the case was sent back is justified, as it followed the purpose of the remand ruling," the court said. "There was no failure to conduct the necessary review, nor any violation of the rules of logic and experience that would exceed the limits of free evaluation of evidence, nor any misunderstanding of the law, as claimed in the grounds for appeal."

Jeon was earlier indicted on charges of setting up or acquiring paper companies for embezzlement, then disguising transactions to transfer sales revenue from affiliated companies to those paper companies. In the process, he was accused of issuing or receiving tax invoices worth roughly 50 billion won under the paper companies' names.

The Seoul Northern District Court, which handled the first trial, ruled in August 2020 that Jeon "clearly intended to issue the invoices despite knowing there were no actual transactions of goods, as it was established that he operated the paper companies for a criminal purpose." The court sentenced him to three years in prison, suspended for five years, with a 19.1 billion won fine.

The Seoul High Court, which handled the second trial, however, handed down a lighter sentence the following May. It sentenced Jeon to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, and a fine of 630 million won. The appeals court found that some of the charges did not constitute crimes. It ruled that the affiliated companies had conducted actual transactions using the paper companies' names and business registrations, which it deemed permissible "name lending" under the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act.

In a ruling in February 2025, the Supreme Court found the arrangement between the affiliates and the paper companies should be characterized as "identity disguise" rather than permissible "name lending." It overturned the appeals court's partial acquittal, sending the case back to the Seoul High Court with instructions to find Jeon guilty on those counts.

Following the remand, the Seoul High Court, in line with the purpose of the reversal, sentenced Jeon to three years in prison, suspended for five years, and a fine of 19.1 billion won. Jeon's side, dissatisfied with the ruling, filed a second appeal.


bell@heraldcorp.com