Member of LG Group family gets 4-year prison term

A member of the LG Group family was sentenced to four years behind bars on Thursday for stock price manipulation and large-scale embezzlement of company funds. The Seoul Central District Court delivered the prison sentence for Koo Bon-hyun, 43, a nephew of LG Electronics Inc's honorary chairman Koo Cha-kyung. The convicted Koo is a son of the chairman's youngest brother. Koo Bon-hyun was accused of pocketing about 13.9 billion won (US$11.7 million) of illegal profits by manipulating the stock price of Exa E&C Inc, an electronics parts maker affiliated with the family-controlled conglomerate, by spreading false information about the company. Koo stepped down as the head of the electronics parts maker earlier this year amid emerging prosecution accusations. He was also convicted of embezzling 76.5 billion won of company funds through accounting fraud. "The jail term is inevitable because the nature of the crime is severe given that he released false information in regulatory filings, manipulated stock prices and interfered with outside audits," court records showed.