Ex-Keopyung exec captured in US

By Na Jeong-ju

Na Seon-joo, ex-vice chairman of Keopyung

Na Seon-joo, a former vice-chairman of the now-defunct Keopyung Group who fled to the United States in 1999 to avoid an investigation into suspicions of breach of trust, has been captured by U.S. officers.

The prosecution said the U.S. will extradite the 52-year-old businessman next month.

Na had been illegally staying in the U.S. since his visa expired in Oct. 2010. The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to apprehend Na and hand him over.

Na is one of the 17 South Korean fugitives who have been captured in foreign countries and are facing extradition, the office said. They include Choi Won-young, former chairman of Kyungwon University and Baek Jong-an, former CEO of Daihan Eunpakgy, a small-sized aluminum ware manufacturing firm. Choi and Baek fled to the U.S. and Canada, respectively, to evade investigations into embezzlement allegations.

Na, a nephew of Keopyung founder Na Seung-ryul, allegedly inflicted some 400 million won in losses to the firm when he led a project to acquire a financial institution in 1997 just before the country was hit by the Asian financial crisis. He had the lender extend illegal loans to the group’s subsidiaries.

The group eventually went bankrupt in May 1998.

Na Seung-ryul was sentenced to two years and six months in prison in 2004 on charges of breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds. He received a presidential pardon in 2008.

“We will resume the investigation into Na Seon-joo as soon as we receive him from the U.S.,” prosecutor Park Kyung-choon said.

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has signed agreements with its counterparts in 16 countries, including the U.S. and China, since 2010 for the speedy extradition of Korean fugitives.

The office said there are currently some 7,000 South Korean fugitives hiding overseas.