Seoul summons five more tycoons
Seoul summons five more tycoons
SEOUL (Reuter): State prosecutors grilled top South Korean
business leaders yesterday and summoned another five to probe
their links with former president Roh Tae-woo's US$654 million
slush fund.
The chairmen of the Doosan, Haitai, Kolon, Kohap and Hyosung
groups will come in on Thursday, prosecutor Ahn Kang-min, leading
the probe into the fund scandal, told reporters.
The heads of Samsung, LG and Dong Ah arrived early yesterday
at the Seoul Prosecutor-General's Office.
Daelim Group chairman Lee Joon-yong, Hanil Group chairman Kim
Jung-won and Dong Bang Group chairman Myoung-soo also were called
in.
Shin is a relative of Roh by marriage.
Ahn told reporters prosecutors had evidence the giant Daewoo
Group helped Roh hide 30 billion won ($39 million) in secret bank
accounts.
Prosecutors on Tuesday questioned Kum Jin-ho, former trade
minister and Roh's relative by marriage.
Ahn told reporters Kum acted as a middleman in helping Roh
switch 89.9 billion won ($116.8 million) from borrowed-name bank
accounts into real-name accounts. This included 30 billion won
($39 million) handled by Daewoo, he said.
He said Kum told prosecutors he asked the Hanbo Group to help
Roh hide 59.9 billion won ($77.8 million). Prosecutors previously
said Hanbo chairman Chung Tae-soo helped Roh conceal 50 billion
won ($64.9 million).
A senior Hanbo executive said the group took the money as a
soft loan. "We did not give money to former president Roh in
bribes," he said by telephone.
Search warrants were sought for four commercial banks,
including the Commercial Bank of Korea, to track down money that
Roh allegedly used in property transactions, Ahn said.
He said 16 accounts in the four banks would be searched. He
did not name the other three banks.
Another prosecution official said Roh was suspected of having
used some of the $654 million slush fund he amassed during his
1988-93 term to buy two buildings in Seoul.
"We are investigating four businessmen, including Shin Myong-
soo, in connection with funds relating to real estate," Ahn said.
He declined to name the other businessmen.
"However, it is not clear yet whether Mr Roh or his relatives
were involved in the purchase of real estate."
There is no dispute that most of the country's major
conglomerates, known as chaebol, helped top up Roh's slush fund.
The question is whether donations were kickbacks aimed at winning
major state infrastructure and defense-related projects.
Also at issue is whether the chaebol heads helped Roh launder
the money by supplying borrowed-name bank accounts or by using it
as loans for their operations.
Samsung is South Korea's largest conglomerate in terms of
sales. It is the world's largest maker of computer memory chips,
builds ships and has billions of dollars of investments in Europe
and the United States.
Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, 52, is the son of the group's
late founder Lee Byung-chull. He is largely credited for
Samsung's emergence as a global force.
LG, whose chairman is Koo Cha-kyung, is the third-ranking
conglomerate and its multi-layered business embraces everything
from consumer electronics to petrochemicals.
Dong Ah is a leading construction group with massive contracts
in the Middle East. It helped build a bridge in Seoul which
collapsed in October last year, killing 32 people, and has been
under a cloud ever since.