Former CEO of Underwear Specialty Company Arrested for Embezzlement of Company Funds... Missing for 3 Months

Photo by Moon Honam, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency archive photo / Moon Honam reporter munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Former CEO Lee Jong-hyun of the underwear specialty company 'Joeun Saramdeul,' who is accused of embezzling hundreds of billions of won in company funds, was caught by the police after three months on the run.

According to the police on the 20th, the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency arrested former CEO Lee on the 18th on charges including embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and is currently investigating him. The police applied for an arrest warrant for Lee on the same day.

The police detected Lee's embezzlement charges and have been investigating since March of last year. Initially, the amount embezzled by former CEO Lee was estimated to be around 30 billion won, but the police expect the amount of damage to increase during the investigation.

Separately, the Joeun Saramdeul branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' National Chemical Fiber Union filed a complaint with the prosecution in April last year against former CEO Lee on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. It is claimed that Lee abused his authority to borrow 3.65 billion won, and the company entered into contracts to provide joint guarantees or assume debt burdens, resulting in large-scale contingent liabilities.

The prosecution began investigating this case and requested an arrest warrant for former CEO Lee in March this year. Afterward, Lee did not appear for the pre-arrest interrogation (warrant hearing) and went into hiding. The Seoul Western District Court issued an arrest warrant, citing concerns that Lee, who is currently wanted, might flee.

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