The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a retrial of Sejoong Namo Tour chairman Chun Shin-il, a close friend of President Lee Myung-bak, who was convicted of bribery, saying that the amount of money to be forfeited was wrongly calculated.

Last December, Seoul’s appellate court meted out a two-year jail term along with a forfeiture of some 3.21 billion won ($2.75 million) in restitution for his bribery conviction.

The top court said that income taxes should be subtracted from the forfeiture in the case of a bribe-taker having received it in the form of salary.

Lee was put in detention in December 2010 after the prosecution indicted him on charges that he pocketed some 4.6 billion won from a local firm from 2004-2006 for business favors including helping it quickly end its debt workout program.

For the charges, a Seoul district court sentenced him to two years and six months in jail with a forfeiture of some 3.21 billion won.

While on trial at the appeals court, he was released last September to be hospitalized for his hypertension, cardiovascular problems and other illnesses.

By Choi He-suk (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)