Prosecutors on Tuesday indicted the chief of South Korean conglomerate Hyosung Group without detention on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.

Cho Hyun-joon, the chairman of the family-run chaebol, will stand trial for allegedly incurring 17.9 billion won ($16.6 million) in losses for one of his private companies through having the firm repurchase its own shares and capital reduction.

He is also accused of gaining illicit profit of 1.2 billion won between 2008 and 2009 via selling 38 art pieces to a Hyosung affiliate at higher prices than their appraised values. He is suspected of putting four women, including a beauty pageant winner-turned-actress, on the company payroll and paying them 370 million won even though they were never actually employed.

But prosecutors cleared him of allegations that he created a 10 billion-won slush fund, citing a lack of evidence.

The allegations against him were raised after Cho's younger son, Hyun-moon, filed dozens of complaints with the prosecution seeking an investigation into the elder brother since July 2014. Cho and his two brothers have been embroiled in a family feud over the leadership succession.

Hyosung's businesses stretch from textiles, chemicals and trading to heavy industries and construction.

(Yonhap)