Hong Ki Kim, previously the director of Lotte Trading Pty, was found guilty of the import, possession and distribution of meat products from Korea. He was sentenced to a total of three years and three months in jail for the crimes, with no option of parole for nine months.
Kim’s is the latest in a string of convictions following an investigation by Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), which uncovered large-scale illegal meat imports by businesses in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Authorities said that Kim had put Australian biosecurity at risk by importing more than 20 tonnes of pork and chicken from Korea, a country which was at the time in the midst of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
“The man was charged as a result of a targeted operation, which cracked down on illegal meat imports that could have had devastating impacts on Australia’s livestock industry,” said first assistant secretary of the Border Compliance Division Tim Chapman.
“Given that Korea has had outbreaks of this highly contagious disease, these meat products posed a potentially significant risk to Australia.”
In December last year, the director of Limeke Corporation, Mark Kim, was found guilty of aggravated illegal importation offences by Brisbane District Court and sentenced to two years and 11 months in jail with a non-parole period of six months. His company was fined AU$60,000.
In April 2013 the manager of Hyun Woo Trading was convicted for possessing or conveying goods that had been illegally imported and given a nine-month suspended prison sentence, dependent on good behaviour for two years and an AU$5,000 bond, by the South Port District Court. The company was fined AU$10,000.