Lawyers say calculation included payments to family and charitable contributions
SK Group Chair Chey Tae-won has sought a review of prosecutors’ decision not to indict a lawyer representing his estranged wife, Roh Soh-young, over claims that Chey spent more than 100 billion won ($74 million) on his partner, Kim Hee-young.
Chey’s legal representatives said Tuesday that they had filed a prosecutorial appeal against the Sept. 9 non-indictment decision involving attorney Lee Sang-won. They accused Lee of inflating the figure by combining unrelated transactions, including money paid to Roh and the couple’s three children, charitable donations and assets owned by Chey.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office declined to indict Lee on suspicion of defamation by alleging false facts, citing insufficient evidence. Prosecutors concluded that there was not enough evidence to establish that Lee knew his statements were false.
Chey’s lawyers stressed that the decision did not confirm the accuracy of the 100 billion won figure.
“The non-indictment decision means only that there was insufficient evidence to prove awareness of falsity,” they said. “It does not state anywhere that the figures being circulated were confirmed as fact.”
Lee made the disputed remarks in November 2023 during Roh’s damages lawsuit against Kim, saying Chey had spent more than 100 billion won on Kim since 2015. Chey subsequently filed a criminal complaint against him.
Chey’s representatives said financial records submitted to the court handling the couple’s property-division proceedings showed that Chey and Kim had spent about 2 billion won in shared living expenses as of the time of Lee’s remarks. They argued that Roh and Lee knew of that explanation.
According to Chey’s statement, Lee’s calculation included 20.4 billion won withdrawn from a Kookmin Bank account established for Roh while Chey was imprisoned. Roh received a substantial portion of the money, his lawyers said.
The figure also included donations and contributions to ChildFund Korea, the Community Chest of Korea and the T&C Foundation, according to Chey’s side. The funds supported disaster relief, scholarships and welfare programs and should not have been characterized as personal gifts to Kim, it said.
Chey’s lawyers also disputed the inclusion of homes and artworks registered in his name. They argued that Roh had sought a share of those assets as marital property while Lee publicly characterized them as assets transferred to Kim.
Prosecutors, however, found that some expenditures connected with Kim could reasonably be considered when assessing Lee’s statements. They also considered a separate court ruling that found a similar claim exaggerated but not demonstrably false.
The prosecutorial appeal seeks a fresh review of the non-indictment decision by a higher prosecution office.
Separately, Chey recently narrowed his Supreme Court appeal in the divorce case. He is no longer contesting 700 billion won of the Seoul High Court’s 944 billion won property-division award and is challenging only the remaining 244 billion won.
herim@heraldcorp.com
