Ha Sung-yong, former president of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), received a two-year prison sentence with a three-year suspension from the Supreme Court for hiring irregularities and embezzlement. However, he was acquitted of one of the major charges regarding accounting fraud amounting to 500 billion won.
According to the legal community on the 23rd, the Supreme Court's Third Division (Chief Justice Lee Sook-yeon) dismissed both the prosecution's and Ha's appeal in the case regarding violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement), thereby confirming the ruling of the second trial which sentenced Ha to two years in prison with a three-year suspension.
Ha was indicted in October 2017 for his involvement in various management corruption cases, including accounting fraud, bribery, and hiring irregularities during his tenure as president of KAI from 2013 to 2017. The investigation was initiated following President Moon Jae-in's orders to eradicate corruption in the defense industry. After Ha expressed his intention to resign amid the investigation, Kim Jo-won, who had been active in Moon's camp, was appointed as his successor.
Earlier, the first trial court found Ha guilty of using 180 million won worth of gift certificates purchased with company funds for personal use and improperly passing 14 applicants who had been rejected during the 2013-2016 hiring of new employees. Additionally, the second trial court ruled guilty on charges of embezzlement for using company money for bets on golf, which had been found not guilty in the first trial.
However, both the first and second trial courts ruled that one of the key charges against Ha regarding accounting fraud amounting to 500 billion won was not guilty. The second trial court stated, "Even if the accounting treatment based on the payment standards is deemed to violate accounting standards retrospectively, the evidence submitted by the prosecutor is insufficient to recognize intentional wrongdoing." The Supreme Court also found no issues with the original ruling.