樂天集團掌門人家族因腐敗被起訴

SEOUL, South Korea — The head of the South Korean retail giant Lotte, one of the country’s largest family-controlled conglomerates, was indicted on Wednesday on tax evasion, embezzlement and other criminal charges, the latest high-profile corruption scandal to hit big businesses here.

韓國首爾——週三，韓國最大家族企業集團之一、零售巨頭樂天(Lotte)的掌門人被當局以逃稅、貪污以及其他刑事罪名起訴，這是引人矚目的腐敗醜聞對韓國大企業造成的最新一次沉重打擊。

Several relatives of the Lotte chairman, Shin Dong-bin, 61, were also indicted, with the family accused of evading $76 million in taxes over all and costing the company $165 million through embezzlement and breach of trust, South Korean prosecutors said in a news release.

現年61歲的樂天總裁辛東彬(Shin Dong-bin)的若干親屬也遭到了起訴。韓國檢察官在一份新聞稿中稱，辛氏家族被控總計逃稅7600萬美元（約合5.12億人民幣），並通過貪污和違背信託責任之舉讓公司損失了1.65億美元。

Although corruption scandals have regularly rocked family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebols, in South Korea, it is rare for the entire chaebol family to be indicted together.

在韓國，腐敗醜聞撼動由家族控制的企業集團或財團是常有的事，但整個財閥家族一併遭到起訴的情況實屬罕見。

In a typical chaebol conglomerate, the chairman’s family owns a small portion of the corporate empire but controls it through loyal executives at subsidiaries that are also interlocked through circular holdings.

一個典型的財閥集團是這樣的：集團主席所在的家族只擁有很小一部分股權，但卻通過子公司的忠實高管控制着整個企業王國，各個子公司之間也因環形持股而存在盤根錯節的關聯。

Over the decades, the chaebols have spearheaded South Korea’s export-driven economy.

過去幾十年間，這些集團一直是韓國出口導向型經濟的開路先鋒。

But their imperious chairmen have in several instances been convicted of tax evasion and other crimes, though seldom kicked out of management.

但專斷獨行的總裁因逃稅等罪行而被定罪的案例已經出現過若干起，儘管他們很少被踢出管理層。

Mr Shin is the most prominent head of a chaebol conglomerate to face corruption charges since Lee Jay-hyun, chairman of the food and entertainment group CJ, was arrested in 2013.

繼食品及娛樂集團CJ的總裁李在賢(Lee Jay-hyun)於2013年被逮捕以來，辛東彬是面臨腐敗指控的財閥集團掌門人中最具知名度的一個。

Mr Lee was convicted on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement the next year, but he was released from prison in an annual presidential pardon in August.

李在賢於被捕的第二年被控逃稅和貪污，但今年8月，他在每年一度的總統特赦行動中被釋放。

Indicted with Mr Shin on Wednesday were his brother, Shin Dong-joo, 62; their 94-year-old father, the Lotte founder, Shin Kyuk-ho; and the senior Mr Shin’s common-law wife and a former winner of the Miss Lotte beauty pageant, Seo Mi-kyung, 57.

在週三與辛東彬一同遭到起訴的包括：他的哥哥、現年62歲的辛東主(Shin Dong-joo)，他們的父親、現年94歲的樂天創始人辛格浩(Shin Kyuk-ho)，以及辛東主的同居人、現年57歲的前樂天小姐徐美京(Seo Mi-kyung，音)。

None of them was arrested.

他們均未被捕。

In July, Mr Shin’s sister, Shin Young-ja, 73, was arrested on charges of collecting $3.1 million through embezzlement and bribery.

今年7月，辛東彬的姐姐、現年73歲的辛英子(Shin Young-ja)，因被控通過貪污受賄斂財310萬美元而遭到逮捕。

And weeks later, as investigators looked into the company, the group’s vice chairman was found dead hours before he was due to appear before prosecutors.

幾周後，當調查人員對樂天集團進行調查的時候，集團副總裁於本應出現在檢察官面前的數小時前被發現身亡。

The authorities considered the death to be a suicide.

當局認爲他死於自殺。

Mr Shin was accused of arranging for his father and other relatives to receive fat salaries from Lotte subsidiaries although they did not work there, prosecutors said.

檢察官稱，辛東彬被控安排他父親以及其他親屬在樂天的一些子公司裏拿高薪，但他們並沒在那些公司工作。

He was also accused of arranging for Lotte subsidiaries to buy stocks of another affiliate at illegally high prices, and giving lucrative contracts — like running cafeterias in a chain of Lotte movie theaters — to a company owned by his family members without conducting competitive bidding.

他還被控安排樂天的一些子公司以非法的高價購買另一家子公司的股票，並把利潤豐厚的合約——比如在樂天連鎖電影院裏經營自助餐廳——給了他的親屬開的一家公司，而未進行競爭性招標。

South Korea has placed restrictions on such deals because chaebol chairmen were often accused of using them to help their children accumulate a fortune.

韓國已經對此類交易做出了限制，因爲財團的總裁們經常被控利用這些交易幫助子女積累財富。

A household name in South Korea, Lotte operates department stores, duty-free shops, shopping malls, hotels, amusement parks, multiplexes, burger joints and coffee shops.

樂天在韓國是家喻戶曉的企業，經營着百貨商店、免稅店、購物中心、酒店、遊樂園、影城、漢堡店和咖啡店。

It has recently become a symbol of family greed as Mr Shin and his elder brother, Dong-joo, accused each other of corruption in a bitter public feud over the control of the empire built by their father.

它近來成爲了象徵家族內部的貪慾的符號，因爲辛東彬與兄長辛東主在爭奪父親創辦的企業王國的控制權之際公開反目成仇，相互指控對方腐敗。

The sibling dispute helped uncover a trove of dirty laundry for prosecutors.

這場手足相爭導致家醜外揚，幫了檢察官的忙。