Kang was a leading figure in shipping and maritime industries helming the rapid rise of the STX Group but was hit hard by the global financial crisis.
The court found he had rigged the company’s books and embezzled funds the Korean Herald reported.
The former STX chief was seen as behind some KRW584.1bn ($556.2m) in irregular bookkeeping and embezzlement worth KRW67.9bn.
The verdict said Kang, “dealt a critical blow to financial firms by committing fraudulent accounting, which undermines trust and transparency in the capital market.”
It added that, “small investors of STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, who had trusted the rigged financial statements, failed to recoup their investments as the company was delisted from the stock market due to capital erosion.”
The prosecution had been seeking a 10 year jail sentence for Kang.
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