The former head of South Korea’s earthquake research center was convicted this week of laundering more than $1 million in bribes from two seismological companies, including one based in Pasadena, that paid him in exchange for insider information. Chi’s conviction hinged on the jury’s determination that the payments were illegal under South Korea’s bribery laws. The only illegal source they charged him with was violating Korean law,” said defense attorney Joel Koury, adding that Chi was never charged with taking bribes in South Korea. Through 2015, prosecutors said Chi accepted more than $1 million in payments — roughly $650,000 from Guralp and $386,000 from Kinemetrics. Each year, he pocketed more from the bribes than from his research center salary, according to court records.

Source: Los Angeles Times July 19, 2017 10:52 UTC