Shin Dong-bin, the chief of the embattled South Korean retail giant Lotte, was summoned by state prosecutors Tuesday as the high-profile corruption probe into the country's fifth-largest conglomerate neared its conclusion.

The 61-year-old business tycoon appeared before the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office as a suspect on a string of charges, including embezzlement and breach of trust. 


"I am sorry for causing concerns," he told reporters before entering the prosecutors' office. "I will fully cooperate with the prosecution's investigation."

He declined to further comment on the allegations raised against him.

Prosecutors here have been looking into Lotte's alleged wrongdoings since they launched full-fledged raids into the group's headquarters in June.

 
Shin is suspected of orchestrating a series of shady deals between the group's affiliates in the process of mergers and acquisitions. He is also accused of selling the assets of certain affiliates to others at below market prices, according to prosecutors.

Investigators are also examining if he can be criminally charged with embezzlement on the suspicion of receiving some 10 billion won ($8.88 million) in yearly stipends just by being listed as a board member of the group's Japanese affiliates.

Since the launch of the investigation, prosecutors have called in a number of high-level executives at Lotte who are suspected of being involved in the massive corruption scheme.


Earlier this month, Shin's older brother Dong-joo was quizzed over allegations of embezzling some tens of billions of won from the group's major affiliates.

In the following week, prosecutors carried out the questioning of the brothers' father and group founder Shin Kyuk-ho at his office in Hotel Lotte in Seoul.

The probe had faced a crisis when Lee In-won, the group's vice chairman and close aide of the incumbent chief, was found dead in an apparent suicide late last month while waiting for a summons by prosecutors. Although the prosecutors briefly halted their interrogations, they resumed questioning people a few days later.


Lotte, which has sprawling businesses in both South Korea and Japan, has been gripped by a series of scandals since last year, including a bitter feud between Shin Dong-bin and his older brother for managerial control.

The prolonged family feud has effectively been resolved after the founder's second son and incumbent chief won shareholder support in March to tighten his grip on the business group. (Yonhap)