Hyundai’s Chairman Chung Mong-koo today was ordered today by South Korean court to pay up almost $60 million in damages to the automaker to compensate it for losses resulting from his business decisions. The ruling in the Seoul Central District Court follows Chung’s 2008 conviction of embezzlement and breach of trust.

Chung was given a three-year suspended jail sentence before being pardoned by President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea.

“This is a case that reveals the problem of family-run management that focuses on the interests of major stockholders and the executives of Hyundai Motor,” the judge said.

The suit, filed in 2008 against Chung and Kim Dong-jin, vice president of parts supplier Hyundai Mobis, was put together by a group of 14 minority shareholders and a nongovernmental group. Kim was ordered to pay almost $47 million.

- By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)