[THE INVESTOR] A Seoul court on June 17 rejected an arrest warrant sought for former Oxy Reckitt Benckiser CEO John Lee amid an escalating probe into the company’s toxic humidifier disinfectant scandal.
The Seoul Central District Court said the evidence complied thus far against Lee is not strong enough to issue an arrest warrant.
Lee, a 48-year-old Korean-American who currently heads Google Korea, is suspected of not taking appropriate measures despite rising health complaints from users when he was leading the company from June 2005 to May 2010. Sales of Oxy Ssak Ssak, the disinfectant product, reached a high during his term.
Former CEO of Oxy Reckitt Benckiser John Lee (center) appears for questioning at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office
Prosecutors sought an arrest warrant against Lee as the first foreign executive of Oxy.
When summoned twice over the past weeks, the former Oxy Korea chief denied allegations, saying he was not aware of the harmful effects of the product.
(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)