The chairman of SK Group was jailed Friday night on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion after the court accepted an arrest warrant sought by the prosecution.

Chairman Son Kil-seung is charged with inflicting about 1 trillion won in losses on SK Shipping Co. through unsuccessful overseas futures investment, embezzlement, and evading 38.2 billion won in corporate tax levied upon the shipping company in 2002.

The chief of South Korea's third-largest conglomerate is accused of diverting about 788 billion won from SK Shipping's coffers to invest in overseas futures and granting illicit financial aid of 249 billion won to an SK affiliate.

The prosecution said it would continue its probe into allegations that he gave massive amounts of slush funds to politicians ahead of the 2002 presidential election.