"Nut rage" heiress of Korean Air questioned for smuggling luxury goods

Source: Xinhua| 2018-06-04 12:19:04|Editor: mmm
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SOUTH KOREA-KOREAN AIR-CHO HYUN-AH-SCANDL 

Cho Hyun-ah (2nd L), the eldest daughter of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho and former vice president of the air carrier, stands in front of scores of journalists before going inside the Customs Office in the country's western port city of Incheon for questioning, June 4, 2018. The heiress of Korean Air, infamous for the "nut rage" incident, was questioned Monday for her allegedly smuggling luxury goods, local media reported. (Xinhua/NEWSIS) 

SEOUL, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The heiress of Korean Air, infamous for the "nut rage" incident, was questioned Monday for her allegedly smuggling luxury goods, local media reported.

Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest daughter of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho and former vice president of the air carrier, stood in front of scores of journalists before going inside the Customs Office in the country's western port city of Incheon for questioning.

She was charged with smuggling luxury goods without paying the customs tariff through the air carrier's workers.

The customs service raided offices and homes of Korean Air workers and the air carrier's subcontractors last month, confiscating about 2.5 tons of luxury goods suspected of smuggled ones.

Cho, 44, left a brief comment that she was sorry for that, and went inside the customs office for questioning.

She is infamous for the nut rage incident in 2014 when the heiress of the Hanjin Group, the parent company of the air carrier and one of South Korea's family-controlled conglomerates, ordered a Korean Air flight from New York to return while the passenger plane was taxiing.

She made flight attendants kneel down and yelled at them over the way macadamia nuts were served in wrappers, not on a plate. She was imprisoned for several months over the case, but she was released in May 2015 as a high court suspended her sentence.

The Cho family has been under public fire as the conglomerate's family members were reportedly involved in abuses and assaults of company and personal workers.

Lee Myung-hee, wife of the Korean Air chairman, was accused of assaulting and mistreating drivers, security guards and several laborers at home and affiliates of Korean Air. She was grilled by police last week over the charges.

Cho Hyun-min, the second daughter of the chairman, was questioned by police last month for allegedly hurling a glass of beverage at a business partner during an advertisement business meeting.

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KEY WORDS: Korean Air
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