Ex-Lotte Chemical chief summoned over accounting fraud allegations

[THE INVESTOR] Ki Joon, a former chief of Lotte Chemical was summoned by prosecutors Tuesday to be questioned on accounting fraud allegations.

Ki Joon appeared before the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office as a suspect.

“I will tell all the facts,” he told reporters before entering the prosecutors’ office.

KP Chemical, the precursor of Lotte Chemical, is suspected of using doctored accounting records when filing a suit against the government in 2006 to receive some 27 billion won ($24 million) of illegal tax refunds.

Prosecutors said they will question Ki over whether he was involved in accountancy fraud and whether Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin took part in the alleged scheme.

The country’s fifth-largest conglomerate has been under investigation since June this year for corporate irregularities. At the same time, the group is suffering from a power struggle between the chairman and his older brother Shin Dong-joo.

By Park Yu-na ()