Earlier, the Fair Trade Commission had reported the 51-year-old Cho to the prosecution for providing unfair financial assistance to ailing Galaxia Electronics Co., a Hyosung affiliate in which he is the largest shareholder, via a total return swapb in late 2014. TRS is a financial contract that transfers both the credit risk and market risk of an underlying asset.

At that time, the light-emitting diode manufacturer, Cho's virtual private company, was on the verge of bankruptcy with a management crisis, and the TRS was allegedly arranged at a group level.

Cho, a grandson of the late Hyosung founder Cho Hong-je, took over the group chairmanship from his father Cho Suck-rai in 2017.

Hyosung, the nation's 22nd-largest conglomerate in terms of assets, has 57 affiliates, with its businesses stretching from textiles, chemicals and trading to heavy industries and construction. (Yonhap)