Yoo's children all snub prosecution's summonses
Photographers and TV camera crews wait for Yoo Dae-gyun, former Semo Group Chairman Yoo Byung-eun’s eldest son to appear at the prosecution office in Incheon, Monday. The junior Yoo was supposed to present himself for questioning by 10 a.m., but failed to show up. / Yonhap
Prosecutors may attempt to detain Chonghaejin owner
By Kim Da-ye
All four children of former Semo Group Chairman Yoo Byung-eun have rejected the prosecution’s summonses regarding an investigation into the April 16 sinking of the ferry Sewol.
The prosecution said Yoo’s eldest son Dae-gyun, who was supposed to appear for questioning Monday at the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office, failed to show up or give any prior reason.
It then sought a warrant to detain Dae-gyun in the afternoon.
Previously, Yoo’s other three children ― Hyuk-kee also known as Keith, Seom-na known as Ennette and Sang-na ― all ignored the prosecution’s summonses.
Investigators are now moving to summon Yoo, 73, who allegedly owns the ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine and dozens of its affiliates through back-door deals.
Prosecutors visited a training facility of the Evangelical Baptist Church or so-called Salvation Sect, which Yoo leads, in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Their visited was a bid to summon Yoo, but they had to retreat after 20 minutes because security guards wouldn’t open the doors.
Prosecutors said they will take measures to detain Yoo first as he may reject their summons as his children did.
Yoo and his children are suspected of having embezzled funds and dodged taxes while running the firms through a complicated ownership structure.
The eldest son Dae-gyun holds a 19.44 percent stake in I-One-I Holdings, a de-facto holding company. He is also the major shareholder of its subsidiaries, holding 32 percent of distributing affiliate Dapanda, 20 percent of Trigon Korea and 12 percent of Korea Pharmaceutical.
He is suspected of collecting billions of won in “consulting fees” from the firms and creating a slush fund. Dae-gyun also registered the name “Omana” for a sister ferry of the Sewol. Local news outlets reported that he was paid some 10 million won in salary every month by Semo although he never worked there.
For Hyuk-kee, the second son, and Seom-na, the eldest daughter, prosecutors have requested the court to issue custody warrants after they repeatedly ignored the summonses.
Hyuk-kee, in fact, has disappeared and even dropped out of contact with his lawyer in Korea, Cho Gyung-hun of Geewoo Law.
The only family member who has appeared before the prosecution is Yoo Byung-eun’s elder brother, Yoo Byung-il.
Byung-il was questioned Sunday for nearly nine hours as a suspect involved in the management of Chonghaejin Marine. He allegedly collected advisory fees from the Sewol operator.
The Incheon District Court held hearings Monday for arrest warrants sought against Kim Dong-hwan, the auditor of Dapanda, and Oh Kyung-seok, president of Hemato Centric Life Institute who was in charge of selling Yoo Byung-eun’s photography works.
In a statement on April 25, Yoo Byun-eun denied that he was involved in Semo Group and its affiliates’ management. He claimed that he has been solely devoted to photography for the last several years.