By Jung Min-ho
Shin Young-ja, chairwoman of the Lotte Foundation and the eldest daughter of Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho, was summoned for questioning, Friday, over allegations that she took money in return for a business favor.
According to the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office, she allegedly received more than 1 billion won ($87,000) from former Nature Republic CEO Jung Woon-ho in exchange for placing the brand at Lotte’s duty-free outlets.
Prosecutors believe that she accepted the money through BNF Trading, a consulting firm she owns, from 2012 to 2015.
There have been reports that Lotte insiders told the prosecution that she gave privileges to the firm by allowing its branches to run at popular locations.
“I’m sorry,” she told reporters as she entered the prosecutor’s office at about 9:30 a.m. “I will cooperate with the prosecution.”
Prosecutors later found that there were more companies that gave her kickbacks for similar business favors.
Prosecutors are also looking into whether she ordered BNF officials to destroy evidence for the allegations. The company’s president, surnamed Lee, has already been arrested for his alleged involvement in the scheme.
Shin is the first member of Lotte’s founding family to be questioned by prosecutors since they began a large-scale probe into the group’s alleged embezzlement and business malpractice in early June.
The investigation of Jung, who was sentenced to eight months in prison in April on charges of illegal overseas gambling, eventually triggered the probe of Lotte.
On June 2, prosecutors raided Shin’s house, the offices of Hotel Lotte’s duty-free operations and BNF Trading. On Tuesday, prosecutors raided the office of Shin’s aide at the Lotte Foundation in Seoul.
Although she has not been at the forefront of the group’s management since her resignation as the president of Lotte Shopping in 2013, few doubt that she still exerts influence on the nation’s fifth-largest conglomerate which has been mired in a dispute over management control between the two sons of the group founder.