By Jung Min-ho
Dongkuk Steel Chairman Chang Sae-joo will be questioned today for allegedly embezzling company funds and gambling with part of the proceeds at casinos in the United States.
According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office Monday, the head of Korea's third largest steel maker is suspected of creating a 20 billion won ($18 million) slush fund by inflating the prices of raw materials that the company purchased from abroad.
Prosecutors believe he later obtained the difference and gambled with the proceeds at hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.
When the alleged crimes were committed is not yet clear.
Prosecutors suspect that the firm's U.S. subsidiary Dongkuk International and its facility maintenance subsidiary Ferrum Infra Co. were used to create the slush fund.
Working in cooperation with police in the United States, prosecutors are looking into how Chang orchestrated the alleged crimes and how many of Dongkuk's subsidies were involved in them.
Koreans who gamble repeatedly here or abroad can face up to three years in prison or be fined up to 20 million won.
Last month, prosecutors raided Dongkuk's headquarters, in central Seoul, the firm's affiliate offices and his home to seize its account books, tax records and records of domestic and international transactions.
The investigation is part of a widening anti-corruption probe by prosecutors into many projects conducted during the Lee Myung-bak administration.
In 2004, Chang was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for four years, for providing security loans to his relatives and paying off personal debts using company funds. He later received a special pardon from President Lee.
Executives of POSCO Engineering & Construction, Keangnam Enterprises, SK Innovation and Ilkwang Group are also facing similar charges.
Meanwhile, former presidential secretary Park Beom-hun and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Chairman Park Yong-sung have been accused of pulling strings to have Chung-Ang University's controversial integration plan approved in 2012.
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| Chang Sae-joo |
According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office Monday, the head of Korea's third largest steel maker is suspected of creating a 20 billion won ($18 million) slush fund by inflating the prices of raw materials that the company purchased from abroad.
Prosecutors believe he later obtained the difference and gambled with the proceeds at hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.
When the alleged crimes were committed is not yet clear.
Prosecutors suspect that the firm's U.S. subsidiary Dongkuk International and its facility maintenance subsidiary Ferrum Infra Co. were used to create the slush fund.
Working in cooperation with police in the United States, prosecutors are looking into how Chang orchestrated the alleged crimes and how many of Dongkuk's subsidies were involved in them.
Koreans who gamble repeatedly here or abroad can face up to three years in prison or be fined up to 20 million won.
Last month, prosecutors raided Dongkuk's headquarters, in central Seoul, the firm's affiliate offices and his home to seize its account books, tax records and records of domestic and international transactions.
The investigation is part of a widening anti-corruption probe by prosecutors into many projects conducted during the Lee Myung-bak administration.
In 2004, Chang was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for four years, for providing security loans to his relatives and paying off personal debts using company funds. He later received a special pardon from President Lee.
Executives of POSCO Engineering & Construction, Keangnam Enterprises, SK Innovation and Ilkwang Group are also facing similar charges.
Meanwhile, former presidential secretary Park Beom-hun and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Chairman Park Yong-sung have been accused of pulling strings to have Chung-Ang University's controversial integration plan approved in 2012.
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