April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] A Seoul court imposed a heavy fine on Mercedes-Benz Korea on Dec. 20 for violating emissions-related laws by importing vehicles with uncertified parts, while also sentencing one of its employees to a prison term.

The Seoul Central District Court imposed a 2.8 billion-won (US$2.48 million) fine against the local distributor of the German cars.

Mercedes-Benz Korea was indicted on charges of importing and distributing some 7,000 cars with uncertified emissions-related parts here.

The court noted the company failed to address the issue for more than 40 months despite being subject to four separate fines, amounting to about 8 billion won in total.

“The company appears to have enough motive (to continue violating the law) because the amount of its fines came to only about 8 billion won while the total price of the cars imported without proper certification amounted to around 400 billion won, which leaves more than 200 billion won in profits even by rough calculation,” it said.

The court also sentenced a company official in charge of the related documents to an eight-month prison term, immediately placing the official under its custody.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)