SEOUL, South Korea – South Korean prosecutors say they are indicting the Lotte Group's founder, his mistress and all of his three children on embezzlement, tax evasion and other charges.
Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said Wednesday that five family members including Lotte's founder Shin Kyuk-ho and the group's current chair, Shin Dong-bin, together allegedly evaded total $76 million in taxes and embezzled $46 million of company funds.
The prosecutors said they also incurred $123 million of losses for Lotte companies due to their outsized influence.
Founding families that control chaebol, the big businesses dominating the South Korean economy, have been convicted in the past, including the chiefs of Samsung, Hyundai Motor and SK.
But it is unusual for prosecutors to seek charges against the entire family of a major South Korean business.