Prosecutors grill Lotte Chemical head over alleged illegal activities

By Park Sae-jin Posted : August 11, 2016, 13:48 Updated : August 11, 2016, 13:48

[Yonhap News Photo]


Prosecutors grilled the chief of Lotte Chemical Corp., a unit of South Korea's retail giant Lotte Group, Thursday as part of an extensive probe into alleged tax evasion, embezzlement and other irregularities by the group's ruling family and executives.

Lotte Chemical head Huh Soo-young is suspected of lobbying tax authorities and handing illegal commission fees to a unit in Japan to create a slush fund.

The country's fifth-largest conglomerate is suspected of evading taxes through paper companies abroad.

Shin Young-ja, the 74-year-old daughter of group founder Shin Kyuk-ho, 94, was arrested on July 7 on charges of taking kickbacks from a cosmetics firm in return for favorable placement in Lotte's duty-free shops.

Prosecutors have also probed allegations that the founder has evaded taxes in transferring shares and assets to his common-law wife Seo Mi-kyung and their daughter Shin Yoo-mi.

The investigation followed a protracted fraternal feud involving the founder's younger son, Shin Dong-bin, who now controls the group, and his elder brother, Shin Dong-joo.

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