Lotte Vice Chair Is Apparent Suicide
Hours before he was set to be questioned by the Korean state prosecutor about a corruption affair, Lee In Won, vice chairman of the highly diversified Lotte Group – known for its vast hotel empire as well as its chemicals and plastics production – was found dead on Aug. 26, an apparent suicide. Lotte had been under investigation since June of this year, when the Seoul Central Prosecutor’s Office raided 17 of the group’s locations including corporate headquarters in the Korean capital as well as the homes of Chairman Shin Dong-bin and other key executives.
Lee, who was 69, had been with the group since 1973 and was seen as a close confidante to the chairman and a high-ranking official in the family-owned business. The executive last had been tasked with finding new growth opportunities for the group. Reports from Korea said Lee’s death will be a blow to the state prosecutor’s case, due to his important function. In the course of the investigation, several key managers and family members, the latter embroiled in a feud over a successor to the 93-year-old patriarch, have been arrested on charges of bribery and embezzlement.
Lotte is additionally one of several Korea-based market players under investigation by the European Commission for dumping PET feedstock PTA. Because of the uncertainty concerning the group’s finances during what had promised to be a long-winded Korean probe, Lotte this summer has had to cancel a stock market launch of its hotel branch, worth an expected $5 billion, and step back from an attempt to take over US-based rival Axiall.
The PVC rival was subsequently acquired by a US competitor, Westlake, for $3.8 billion including debt. Lotte and Axiall are partners in a joint venture to produce ethane from shale gas at Lake Charles, Louisiana / USA.
