The prosecution has indicted a total of 83 persons, including executives and employees of MG, a subsidiary of Yuhan Corp., hospital doctors and pharmacists without detention for providing or receiving illegal rebate. Related to this, there is also a suspicion that Yuhan Corp., the parent company of MG, a supplier of nutrition products, might have known the case.
The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office announced on July 19 that it had indicted the 83 persons on charges of violating the Pharmaceutical and Medical Act, including MG CEO Shin Chul-soo.
Shin and others are accused of providing illegal rebates worth 1.1 billion won by giving cash to hundreds of medical doctors in hospitals or lending corporate cards to them for four years from 2013.
In addition, they were also charged with offering 400 million won to executives and employees of pharmaceutical wholesale companies to supply new medicines.
Yuhan Corp. took over 36.8 percent, the largest shareholder stake, of MG in April 2014, becoming the biggest shareholder of the troubled company.
Meanwhile, an insider in the pharmaceutical circle said, "Offering illegal rebate under the table is a long-lasting practice in the pharmaceutical industry. Accordingly, there is a high possibility that Yuhan Corp., which acquired MG in 2014, knew the negative practice."
In line with this, Korea IT Times contacted Yuhan Corp. officials several times but failed to listen their explanation or counter-argument.
