The former head of South Korea’s sole tobacco maker was arrested Friday on charges of receiving kickbacks from a company subcontractor.
Min Young-jin, 57, who headed the KT&G Corp. from 2010 to 2015, was put behind bars after a Seoul court issued a warrant to detain him.
“The criminal charges have been ascertained, and there is enough reason and need to detain him,” Judge Cho Yoon-hee said.
Min allegedly received more than 100 million won ($85,830) in bribes from a subcontractor in exchange for business favors.
He is also suspected of creating secret funds while taking over and managing a local cosmetics company and a biotech venture company, which have now become the cigarette maker’s affiliate.
Min resigned in July, when prosecutors launched the investigation. (Yonhap)
