Acquittal was finalized for former Hanssem chair Choi Yang-ha, who was put on trial on charges of colluding in bids worth about 2.3 trillion won in the process of procuring built-in furniture for new apartment buildings.
The Supreme Court's Second Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) said on the 31st that on the 26th it affirmed the lower court ruling that acquitted Chair Choi, who had been indicted on charges including violating the Framework Act on the Construction Industry.
Eight furniture companies, including Hanssem, Hanssem Nexus, Enex, Nexis, Uami, Sun&L Co. Interior, Reverse, and Neps, were brought to trial on charges that from January 2014 to December 2022, over nine years, they coordinated in advance the intended successful bidder and bid prices while participating in bids for kitchen and general furniture work at 783 new apartment construction sites nationwide ordered by 24 construction companies. The total bid amount was 2.3261 trillion won.
Apartments where the furniture collusion occurred included Lotte World Tower Signiel, Sinbanpo L, Gaepo Xi Residence, Daechi Prugio Summit, and Mapo Prestige Xi. Prosecutors determined that the companies installed built-in furniture at prices 5% higher than the market price through collusion and pocketed unjust profits.
With the Supreme Court ruling, Hanssem and Enex each had fines of 200 million won finalized; Hanssem Nexus, Nexis Design Group, and Uami each had fines of 150 million won; and Sun&L Co. Interior and Reverse each had fines of 100 million won finalized. Neps had already finalized its sentence after receiving a fine of 150 million won in the first trial in Jun. 2024 and not appealing.
Eleven former and current executives and representatives of each company indicted alongside the furniture companies had their sentences finalized in the appellate trial at one year in prison suspended for two years or 10 months in prison suspended for two years.
In the second trial, the court found that former Chair Choi only gave final approval and therefore did not know about the collusion. The court said, "There is no testimony or statement that executives and employees directly reported the bid collusion to former Chair Choi," adding, "Some materials contain expressions from which collusion can be inferred, but this alone is insufficient grounds to recognize that the defendant was aware of it." The Supreme Court found that the lower court's judgment did not misunderstand the legal principles.