CJ CEO Lee Jay-hyun |
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Police are investigating the accountant of the CJ Group chairman on suspicions of hiring gangsters to kill another gangster who defaulted on a personal loan.
The 40-year-old employee, identified as Lee, allegedly managed nearly 20 billion won ($20 million) of CJ CEO Lee Jay-hyun's wealth. Of the money, he lent 18 billion won without the knowledge of his boss to a gangster named Park, who promised to pay it back with high interest.
But after Park only paid back 10 billion won, Lee hired two men, Jeong and Yun, to kill him.
Jeong, pretending to be a mugger, attempted to kill Park by hitting him on the head with a blunt instrument in southern Seoul in May 2007. However, the attack failed.
Yun then kidnapped Park in July the same year and confined him in an apartment in North Jeolla Province, but did not kill him.
Jeong and Yun then blackmailed Lee for 1.1 billion won, threatening that they would disclose his murder plan. Police arrested the two and Park.
Police sought an arrest warrant for Lee, who recently quit the company, but the court rejected it, saying he was unlikely to flee. They will re-file the request soon.
Regarding the chairman's money, CJ said it was not a slush fund but wealth which was handed down from his late father and has been kept in borrowed-name bank accounts. As the hidden wealth was revealed, the group plans to report it to the tax authorities and pay overdue taxes.
Police said they will investigate where the chairman Lee got the money, regardless of the group's explanation.
rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr
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