Kwon Yoon Ja, 71, was convicted of siphoning off $28m from a business group that owns Chonghaejin Marine, the operator of the vessel that sank in April, killing more than 300 people.

A district court in Incheon City also sentenced her brother Kwon Oh Kyun to five years in prison for pocketing the diverted funds, AsiaOne reported.

Kwon is the widow of Yoo Byung-Un, who was the subject of a manhunt earlier this year after the tragedy, but was found dead in a field in July.

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