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Agence France-Presse

The son of the South Korean tycoon blamed for April’s ferry disaster was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday for embezzlement, the first sentencing of any member of the reclusive billionaire family on charges linked to the sinking.
Yoo Dae-kyun, 44, was found guilty of siphoning off some US$7.2 million from Chonghaejin Marine Company, the operator of the stricken ferry, and its six sister companies between 2002 and late last year.
“The accused is found guilty of embezzlement ... He exploited his status as the eldest son of Yoo Byung-eun for embezzlement,” the Incheon District Court in the western port city of Incheon said.
Prosecutors had sought a four-year jail sentence for Yoo.
Three other family members – Yoo Dae-kyun’s mother and two uncles – have also been arrested on charges of embezzlement from the business group.
Yoo’s sister, Yoo Sum-na, is currently fighting extradition from France on similar charges. A Paris court of appeal will rule on Wednesday on her extradition.
The 48-year-old, who also runs a design company, was arrested in Paris on May 26 after an Interpol arrest warrant was filed by Seoul.
The overloading of cargo on the Sewol and an illegal redesign has been blamed for the April disaster in which the ferry sank off South Korea’s southern coast, claiming more than 300 lives – most of them schoolchildren.
The badly decomposed body of Yoo’s father, Yoo Byung-eun, who in addition to his substantial business interests also ran a religious group, was found in June.
A post-mortem autopsy failed to determine his cause of death. He had been the target of a massive manhunt connected to the ferry sinking.
Yoo Dae-kyun was arrested at a hideout in a commuter town just outside Seoul in July.


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South Korea ferry disaster

South Korea ferry owner’s son jailed three years for embezzlement 

The Sewol ferry sank in April with more than 450 people on board. Photo: EPA

A man watches a TV news program on the reward poster of Yoo Byung-eun at the Seoul Train Station in Seoul in this May 26, 2014 file photo. Photo: AP

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