Prosecutors seek warrant to arrest Lotte Homeshopping CEO

By Park Sae-jin Posted : July 14, 2016, 18:19 Updated : July 14, 2016, 18:19

A glittering Lotte Group building is under construction in southern Seoul.[Yonhap News Photo]


Prosecutors sought an arrest warrant Thursday for the head of Lotte Homeshopping, the TV channel of South Korea's retail giant Lotte Group, as part of a probe into alleged corruption and other illegal activities by group executives and the ruling family.

CEO Kang Hyeon-gu is suspected of violating a broadcasting law, embezzling company money, breaching trust, and destroying evidence. In May, the home shopping channel was ordered to suspend its six-hour prime-time broadcasting for six months starting in late September, for making false statements on the number of executives and employees involved in bribery.

Prosecutors have questioned Kang to see if he directed company officials to give kickbacks to government officials when the company renewed its business license for another three years in 2015.

Shin Young-ja, the 74-year-old daughter of the group's founder, was arrested  on July 7 on charges of taking kickbacks from Jung Woon-ho, the jailed head of the cosmetics firm Nature Republic, in return for favorable placement in duty-free shops run by the country's fifth-largest family-run conglomerate.

 She wast the first Lotte family member who has been arrested since prosecutors launched an investigation last month.  With its control tower in limbo, the group has suspended a number of projects including the planned initial public offering of Hotel Lotte, a virtual holding company.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com

 
기사 이미지 확대 보기
닫기