South Korean prosecutors demanded a 10-year jail term for Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin on Monday for embezzlement and breach of duty.

Shin was indicted last year on charges of embezzling 50.9 billion won ($45.4 million) by paying out wages to relatives who made little contribution to management and illegally offering business favors that cost the group about 134.5 billion won.

The 94-year-old founder Shin Kyuk-ho was charged for evading 70.6 billion won worth of inheritance tax. The prosecution estimated that Lotte family members and executives engaged in embezzlement, breach of trust and tax evasion totaling 256 billion won.

Prosecutors also called for a jail sentence of five years for the chairman’s brother Shin Dong-joo, former vice chairman of Japan-based Lotte Holdings; seven years for their sister Shin Young-ja; and seven years for their father’s third wife Seo Mi-kyung on similar charges. A five-year term was demanded for the four Lotte former and current senior executives. The sentence on Shin Kyuk-ho, who was unable to attend court due to Alzheimer’s disease, would be announced on Nov.1. Court trial and sentencing on the Shin family members is expected in December.

“The family members deployed every means possible to use Lotte assets for private purposes,” the prosecutors said. “This is by far the largest crime of its kind for a family-owned business.”

They claimed that the biggest beneficiary was Shin Dong-bin as the deals were designed to cement his leadership. The prosecution is likely to add pressure on the current group leader, who succeeded his father as chairman after winning a family feud over control of Korea’s fifth largest conglomerate last year.

Shin’s lawyers argued that the prosecution’s statements were “exaggerated and far-fetched” and that the charges were significantly weaker than when the prosecution probe began in June 2016.

Chairman Shin who appeared at the court apologized for alleged attempts and vowed to transform Lotte Group companies into more transparent and respected entities.

By Chung Joo-won and Kim Hyo-jin

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