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[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] An employee of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (formerly Hyundai Heavy Industries), who is suspected of destroying evidence while under investigation by the Fair Trade Commission, was acquitted in the first trial.
Criminal Chamber 5 (Judge Park Byung-gon) at the Seoul Central District Court on the 20th acquitted two executives and one deputy director of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, including A, who was indicted without physical detention on charges of destroying evidence.
The justice department judged, "It is hard to say that the defendants clearly intended to destroy evidence with the prosecution's evidence alone."
"In some ways, the defendants interfered with the FTC investigation, which is much more important than the prosecution's investigation, but it is difficult to punish them for destroying evidence unless it is difficult to acknowledge the intention of destroying evidence," the court said. "This is an inevitable conclusion under the legal system that considers obstruction of investigation only subject to fines."
They were put on trial on charges of destroying evidence on a large scale by replacing PC 102 universities and 273 hard disks in preparation for the Fair Trade Commission's direct investigation into the violation of the Subcontracting Act between July and August 2018.
In December 2019, judging that the Fair Trade Commission pressured HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to reduce subcontracting payments by entrusting its in-house subcontractors to manufacture ships and offshore plants in 2018, and issued the contract after the start of the work, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine of 20.8 billion won and filed a complaint with the prosecution on charges of violating the subcontracting law.
In addition, the FTC imposed a fine of 100 million won on HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Corporation and 25 million won on its employees for destroying evidence and obstructing the investigation.
However, the FTC did not take any criminal action on this. In June 2020, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Lawyers for a Democratic Society filed a complaint with the prosecution, taking issue with it.
Regarding the first trial's ruling, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries said, "We respect the court's judgment and will strengthen training for executives and employees to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future."
AlphaBIZ 김지선(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
