April 27, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Financial authorities will check whether rules were followed in the handling of assets worth 4.4 trillion won (US$3.90 billion) owned by Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, the top financial regulator said on Oct. 30.

During a parliamentary audit, Financial Services Chairman Choi Jong-ku also indicated that authorities could levy taxes on capital gains earned by Lee from the assets that may have been in borrowed-name accounts.

The public scrutiny of Lee’s assets again put the spotlight on the 2008 investigation in which Lee was convicted on charges of tax evasion and breach of trust.

At that time, prosecutors found that Lee owned assets, believed to be inherited from his father and the founder of Samsung Group, Lee Byung-chull, in about 1,200 accounts held by his lieutenants.

Earlier this month, Rep. Park Yong-jin of the governing Democratic Party raised allegations that financial authorities had allowed Lee to inherit the assets without paying taxes.

A 1993 law requires Koreans to open their bank or other financial accounts using their real names.

Authorities can levy taxes on 99 percent of interest and dividend income earned from “non real-name assets.”

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)