'Recruitment Fraud Suspicion' Shinhan Card Executives Receive Suspended Sentence..."No Disadvantaged Applicants"

[Financial News] Executives of Shinhan Card, who were brought to trial on charges of recruitment fraud, have been sentenced to suspended sentences.
Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 13 (Judge Jeong Yeonju) sentenced former Shinhan Card CEO Wi Seongho and Vice President Lee Gibong to 10 months and 6 months in prison, respectively, with a 2-year suspended sentence for obstruction of business.
The court explained, "It undermined trust in the fairness of the recruitment process and gave many people a sense of relative deprivation," adding, "Former CEO Wi, as the final decision-maker, should bear significant responsibility."
However, "The defendants were found guilty, but the applicants ultimately failed, and there were no applicants who were disadvantaged by being changed from passing to failing due to the defendants' actions," adding, "Former CEO Wi was not because he received requests for 15 applicants, but because he objectively judged that the applicants could help the company."
The court seems to have referred to the Supreme Court's ruling on the allegations of illegal recruitment by Cho Yongbyung, Chairman of Shinhan Financial Group. In 2022, the Supreme Court acquitted Chairman Cho, who was indicted for obstruction of business and violation of the Gender Equality Employment Act. At that time, the court confirmed the second trial ruling that if a certain level of candidate review process was conducted, it could not be uniformly considered as illegal passers. In this suspicion as well, since the applicants went through a certain level of recruitment process, it is not considered as illegal passers.
The two were accused of obstructing recruitment operations by separately managing and finally hiring 8 candidates who were requested by executives of Shinhan Financial Group affiliates during the recruitment process for new employees in 2016-2017. The prosecution indicted them for allegedly illegally passing the requested candidates and manipulating interview rankings.

theknight@fnnews.com Jeong Kyungsoo Choi Eunsol Reporter