South Korea's tax agency said Tuesday it has launched probes into suspected tax evasion by 30 people who pocketed corporate profits for personal gains or handed down wealth to their children by illegal means.

The National Tax Service (NTS) said it has cracked down on corporate chiefs and their family members who allegedly misused corporate profits or made illegal off-shore tax evasions and capital transactions.

Of them, nine people made illegal property-related transactions or traded intangible assets to hand over wealth to their children.

The NTS has collected a combined 9 trillion won (US$7.6 billion) in unpaid taxes from tax evaders who pocketed corporate income or those who passed on wealth to their children in an improper manner over the past four years. (Yonhap)