A regional court in Korea sentenced a group of gold smugglers to prison terms of up to five years Tuesday, slapping penalties of more than 4.5 trillion won ($4.0 billion) and ordering forfeiture of 6.8 trillion won in total.

The Busan District Court sentenced the 53-year-old ring leader, surnamed Yoon, to five years and another key defendant to two years and six months, with penalties of 1.33 trillion won and 1.32 trillion won each, finding them guilty of illegally smuggling 40,321 gold bars worth over 2 trillion won from Hong Kong to Japan for 18 months from July 2015.

The fines are the largest ever to be slapped on a defendant in a criminal trial and the forfeiture is the highest since 23 trillion won was ordered to be seized from Kim Woo-Choong, former chairman of now-defunct conglomerate Daewoo Group, who was convicted of book cooking and embezzlement in 2006.

The defendants were accused of secretly bringing in the gold bullion purchased from Hong Kong and having Korean travelers deliver it to their accomplices in Japan. The gold bars were handed over to the travelers recruited for delivery at transits in the Gimhae or Incheon airports and shipped out to Japan. Travellers were lured on free tours and cash. The culprits made more than 40 billion won in profit from the smuggling.

By Park Dong-min and Minu Kim

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]