The convicted chief of the country's third-largest conglomerate SK Group will step down from his position as chairman, officials at the business group said Wednesday, removing him from all management affairs.

Chey Tae-won, 53, was sentenced to a four-year prison term last week after being convicted of embezzling 46.5 billion won ($43.6 million) from two SK Group affiliates, including top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co., and funneling the funds into personal investments in stock futures and options in 2008.

He will remain the conglomerate's major shareholder as a "former chairman," the officials said.

Chey had stepped down from the group's top decision-making body, known as SUPEX Council, in December 2012, but was given the chairman title and helped in laying out the overall business strategy.

With Chey's resignation, Kim Chang-geun, chairman of SK Innovation and the head of SUPEX Council, is expected to lead the group at the front lines.

Early this week, Chey resigned from the board of directors of SK Holdings Co., SK Innovation Co, SK hynix Inc. and SK C&C Co. taking moral responsibility for the criminal conviction.

(Yonhap News)