'Former VIK CEO Lee Cheol Sent to Prosecution for Embezzlement While Seating Wife as Proxy CEO'

Lee Cheol, Former VIK CEO [Image Source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] Lee Cheol, former CEO of Value Invest Korea (VIK), who is accused of embezzling company funds by appointing his wife as a 'figurehead president,' was sent to the prosecution on the 28th.

According to the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the 28th, Lee is accused of embezzling about 63 million KRW as salary from April 2014 to September 2016 by placing his wife, Son, as an inside director of VIK's subsidiary, Value Invest Partner.

Earlier, the Financial Victims Solidarity and others reported Lee to the police in November last year, accusing him of embezzling more than 500 million KRW over four years through Son under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. They claimed that Son went to work about once a month from April 2014 to December 2018, only signing for utility expenses while receiving a monthly salary of about 10 million KRW.

The police summoned Son for investigation and interviewed Lee, who is currently incarcerated. Son reportedly admitted to the charges after the issue was raised and returned all the money she had received.

Additionally, the police decided not to prosecute the case reported by the Financial Victims Solidarity in August last year, accusing Lee and the CEO of an invested company, Mr. A, of embezzling approximately 15.95 billion KRW due to insufficient evidence. After reviewing account details, the police concluded that although there were financial transactions between Lee and Mr. A, clear contracts existed, and the usage of funds was unrelated to Lee, making it difficult to consider the transactions as embezzlement.

The Financial Victims Solidarity stated, "There is solid evidence, including court testimony, that Mr. A provided money and goods to Lee," and added, "We will file an objection to the non-prosecution decision and seek a re-evaluation."

Lee was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Supreme Court in 2019 for raising 700 billion KRW from about 30,000 people through crowdfunding by establishing the unlicensed investment company VIK in 2011. During the trial, it was revealed that he attracted another large-scale illegal investment, and he was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison in the appellate court last December.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.