Court acquits SPC Chairman Hur of breach of trust charges

A Seoul court on Friday acquitted Hur Young-in, the chairman of the nation's largest bakery chain, SPC Group, of charges of ordering the dumping of affiliate shares to evade gift taxes.Hur was accused of selling stocks of Mildawon, a grain company wholly owned by his family, at 255 won (US$0.19) per share in December 2012, a price far cheaper than the appraised 2011 price of 1,180 won and their 2008 acquisition price of 3,038 won, with tax evasion purposes.Prosecutors suspected the stock sale inflicted damage of 5.81 billion won on Shany and 12.16 billion won on Paris Croissant -- both SPC affiliates -- while giving Samlip proceeds of 17.97 billion won.On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court found Hur not guilty of the charges, stating that the evidence presented is not sufficient to determine the pricing of the disposed shares constitutes a breach of duty.Source: Yonhap News Agency