Police investigate Hyosung head for misusing money

Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon is under police investigation for misusing billions of won worth corporate money to cover legal fees.

Korean National Police Agency said Thursday it is investigating whether Cho used company money to cover court costs, including fees for lawyers for his criminal cases, from 2013 through last year.

The police said they were tipped off to the possibility of Cho’s misappropriation in September and started investigating him since then. The police are also looking into whether other family members of the textile making group misused corporate money in a similar way as well.

The chairman was sentenced to three years of probation and 120 hours of community service in September for misusing 1.6 billion won ($1.4 million) worth of corporate money for personal purposes and evading roughly 7 billion won in gift taxes after receiving a 15.7 billion won slush fund from his father, Hyosung’s honorary Chairman Cho Suck-rai.

By Kim Jee-hee