'Lee Jae-yong's Cousin' Former Saehan Group Vice Chairman Lee Jae-kwan Passes Away

Lee Jae-gwan, former Vice Chairman of Saehan Group, Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Lee Jae-kwan, former vice chairman of Saehan Group and cousin of Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Group, passed away on the 11th at the age of 59.

According to the business community on the 12th, the deceased's funeral hall will be set up from the 13th at Samsung Seoul Hospital in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The deceased was the son of the late Lee Chang-hee, the second son of the late Lee Byung-chul, founder of Samsung Group.

After graduating from Tufts University in the United States in 1987, he served as a director of Saehan Media in 1990. After his father passed away in 1991, he inherited the company and officially launched Saehan Group, a mid-sized group ranked in the mid-20s in the business world with 12 affiliates, in December 1997.

However, the group's management difficulties began as he made large-scale investments in declining businesses such as videotape and film. Saehan Group entered workout in October 2000 due to financial difficulties, and management rights were transferred to creditors. At that time, the deceased pledged personal assets worth approximately 24.7 billion won to the company and completely withdrew from frontline management.

In 2003, he was indicted on charges of receiving illegal loans worth over 100 billion won through accounting fraud and was sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year probation.

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