By You Soo-sun
The head of Korea's major airline company was questioned by police Tuesday, over allegations that he used company money to renovate his private residence.
Korean Air and Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, is accused of using 3 billion won ($2.65 million) of company funds for the remodeling of his house in Pyeongchang-dong, central Seoul, between May 2013 and August 2014.
The money was taken from funds allocated for the construction of the airline's hotel around the same time at Incheon International Airport.
Cho has denied the allegations, saying he had no knowledge of the misappropriation. Police will look into whether Cho was aware of fund misuse and if he was directly involved. They are also looking into whether Cho's wife, Lee Myung-hee, was involved.
Cho and Lee were questioned by prosecutors twice in August but the investigation was suspended when Cho sought receiving medical treatment in the United States. Cho's lawyer argued that the long flight to Korea would be difficult due to his health.
The allegations were raised during a separate police investigation of an interior renovation company suspected of committing tax fraud. The company, which has worked on the renovation of various top corporate executives' houses, handled both the construction of the hotel and the work on Cho's residence.
In early July, the police raided the airline's headquarters in western Seoul and seized contracts and accounting documents for inspection. They summoned officials related to the case for questioning and based on their testimony detained a senior official surnamed Kim.
The crackdown is seen as part of President Moon Jae-in's drive to reform major conglomerates since he took office.
The head of Korea's major airline company was questioned by police Tuesday, over allegations that he used company money to renovate his private residence.
Korean Air and Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, is accused of using 3 billion won ($2.65 million) of company funds for the remodeling of his house in Pyeongchang-dong, central Seoul, between May 2013 and August 2014.
The money was taken from funds allocated for the construction of the airline's hotel around the same time at Incheon International Airport.
Cho has denied the allegations, saying he had no knowledge of the misappropriation. Police will look into whether Cho was aware of fund misuse and if he was directly involved. They are also looking into whether Cho's wife, Lee Myung-hee, was involved.
Cho and Lee were questioned by prosecutors twice in August but the investigation was suspended when Cho sought receiving medical treatment in the United States. Cho's lawyer argued that the long flight to Korea would be difficult due to his health.
The allegations were raised during a separate police investigation of an interior renovation company suspected of committing tax fraud. The company, which has worked on the renovation of various top corporate executives' houses, handled both the construction of the hotel and the work on Cho's residence.
In early July, the police raided the airline's headquarters in western Seoul and seized contracts and accounting documents for inspection. They summoned officials related to the case for questioning and based on their testimony detained a senior official surnamed Kim.
The crackdown is seen as part of President Moon Jae-in's drive to reform major conglomerates since he took office.
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