Lotte Verdicts May Open New Front in Brothers' Feud for Control
- Shin Dong-bin convicted; older brother Shin Dong-joo acquitted
- Shin Dong-joo has previously tried to retake control of group
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A South Korean court found Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin guilty of embezzlement and breach of fiduciary duty, while acquitting his rival and older brother, opening the door for renewed infighting over control of South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate.
While Shin Dong-bin, who was handed a suspended prison sentence Friday, plans to remain as chairman of the South Korean conglomerate’s flagship Lotte Group, prosecutors are still seeking a four-year sentence in a separate bribery trial due Jan. 26. Also, the chairman’s conviction could lead to his ouster under Japanese law as head of the company’s Tokyo-based unit Lotte Holdings Co., where elder sibling Shin Dong-joo owns 33.3 percent of voting rights.