서울중앙지검 특수2부(윤대진 부장검사)는 21일 거액 탈세로 비자금을 축적한 CJ그룹을 전격 압수수색했다.
검찰은 이날 검사와 수사관 수십명을 보내 서울 중구 남대문로 CJ그룹 본사 및 임직원 자택을 조사, 컴퓨터 하드 디스크와 회계 장부, 회사 내부 문건을 확보했다.
계열사만 86개 거느리는 CJ 그룹은 현재 해외에 명목상 회사를 설립해 거래 조작, 비자금 70억 원을 조성한 혐의를 받고 있다.
CJ 그룹 사옥 (안훈/코리아헤럴드)
한편, CJ측은 “현재 제기된 의혹은 사실무근”이라며 “검찰 조사에 긴밀히 협조할것” 이라는 입장을 밝혔다.
CJ그룹이 탈세 및 편법으로 비자금 조성 혐의를 받은 것은 이번이 처음이 아니다. 2007년 CJ건설은 비자금 조성 혐의로 수사를 받았으나 증거 부족으로 종결되었다. 당시 CJ건설은 건축 비용을 부풀려 실제 비용과 차액을 챙긴 의혹을 받았다.
이와 별개로 2008년 이재현 CJ그룹 회장의 차명 자산을 관리한 이모(43)씨가 살인 청부 혐의로 기소돼 재판 과정에서 비자금이 거론된 바 있다. 차명 계자 40여 개로 이 회장의 개인 자산을 관리하는 이씨가 투자 목적으로 180억 원을 지인에게 맡겼는데, 사기꾼이었던 지인이 돈의 출처를 밝히겠다고 협박하자 투자금 회수를 위해 살인 청부업자를 고용했다는 것이다. 이 회장은 2009년 대법원에서 무죄 선고를 받았다.
또한, CJ그룹은 2001년에서 2008년 사이 갤러리 선미에서 미술품 1,420억 원어치를 시세보다 높게 구매, 차액을 되돌려 받는 형식으로 비자금을 조성한 의혹을 받았다.
이번 수색은 금융정보분석원이 CJ그룹과 관련해 수상한 해외 자금 흐름 내역을 포착해 검찰에 보고하면서 시작되었다.
(코리아 헤럴드 김영원 기자/번역 이상주)
Prosecution probes CJ slush fund claim
By Kim Young-won
The prosecution launched an investigation into entertainment giant CJ Group Tuesday on suspicion of gathering illegal funds and evading taxes.
Scores of investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office raided the headquarters of the nation’s 14th largest conglomerate in central Seoul and several other offices and residences of its executives.
The group with 86 affiliates is suspected of creating a 7-billion-won ($6.3 million) slush fund through fake trade deals with paper companies it established overseas.
It is the first criminal investigation into a large business group under President Park Geun-hye.
The investigators seized computer hard disks, account books and relevant documents from the offices and residences, which reportedly included the home of a senior financial manager.
The prosecutors are also tracking down bank accounts held by group officials and affiliates that were allegedly used for amassing the illegal money.
The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, a state-run financial watchdog, recently detected suspicious money transactions and referred the case to the prosecution.
“Allegations raised against the firm so far have proven groundless. The company will fully cooperate with the prosecution in the investigation,” an official from the company said.
Running various businesses ranging from entertainment, bio-pharmacy to construction, the conglomerate has long been suspected of creating slush funds.
In 2007, the firm’s affiliate CJ Engineering and Construction was faced with charges of setting up illicit funds but the prosecution closed the case due to lack of solid evidence.
The firm was accused of inflating costs in a construction project and pocketing the difference.
In a different case in 2008, prosecutors traced around 40 bank accounts of CJ Group’s executives believed to have formed slush funds.
The suspicions surfaced while they were investigating an accountant of the conglomerate in connection with a contract-murder attempt.
The accountant had loaned 18 billion won out of money he managed for CJ chairman Lee Jay-hyun to a swindler for investment purposes in 2007.
When the swindler threatened to disclose the source of the money, which he insisted was slush funds of chairman Lee, the CJ official was alleged to have hired a hit man to try to kill the blackmailer and recover his investment money back.
The total amount of money the official surnamed Lee kept on behalf of the chairman was said to have exceeded 50 billion won. The two Lees are not related.
The Supreme Court found the official of the firm not guilty in 2009.
CJ Group also bought art pieces worth around 142 billion won from Gallery Seomi, one of the most prominent art galleries in Korea, from 2001 to 2008, and was accused of using the art for slush funds at the time.
The company said the money for the purchase was inheritance from chairman Lee’s parents and that he paid all due taxes.
(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)