Published : Sept. 12, 2017 - 15:23
A senior official at South Korea's top airline will stand trial for spending company money for the renovation of its chief's Seoul residence a few years ago, the prosecution said Tuesday.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has indicted a 73-year-old man, identified only by his surname Kim, on charges of embezzlement, it said.
Kim, who holds a post as a senior advisor at Korean Air Lines Co., is accused of siphoning off some 3 billion won ($2.65 million) of company funds set aside for hotel construction into remodeling the house of Chairman Cho Yang-ho between May 2013 and August 2014.
Korean Air`s main headquarters in western Seoul (Yonhap)
The allegations were raised from a separate police investigation into possible tax fraud by an interior renovation company that works largely for business conglomerates. The company took the jobs for hotel construction as well as the renovation of Cho's residence.
In August, police told Cho and his wife to appear for questioning over the allegations. But they asked for postponement of the summons, citing health issues.
Police put off the summons for about a month and are to call them in again next Tuesday.
Cho has apparently denied any wrongdoing and said he had no knowledge of such irregularities.
On July 7, police investigators raided the airline's headquarters in western Seoul and confiscated accounting books and contract documents. (Yonhap)