INCHEON, April 25 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors investigating last week's deadly ferry sinking said Friday they summoned a close aide to the ship's owner family for questioning over its suspected misconduct in managing the operator of the ill-fated ship.
Ko Chang-hwan, the 67-year-old chief of Semo Marine Co., was quizzed over his role in managing more than a dozen affiliates of Chonghaejin Marine Co, according to Incheon District Prosecutors' Office. Semo is the predecessor of Chonghaejin, the ferry Sewol's operator.
As one of the key aides to Yoo Byung-eun, Semo's former chief, Ko served as a director of I-One-I holdings, which was Chonghaejin's parent company between 2008 and 2010.
The summons came as part of a widening probe into what caused last week's tragedy that killed 182 and left 180 others still missing. Of the some 476 people aboard the ship en route to the southern resort island of Jeju from the coastal city of Incheon, only 174 people were rescued. No one has been found alive since April 16 when the accident occurred.
Yoo's family is suspected of accumulating at least 240 billion won (US$230.7 million) in assets by embezzling corporate funds while failing to fulfill its duty of properly managing the companies. Prosecutors have also traced their hidden assets to pay damages to the victims and their families.
Earlier in the day, investigators said they also notified Yoo's second son and his daughter to return to South Korea from overseas by Tuesday to face questioning.
The second son, Yoo Hyuck-ki, is one of the biggest shareholders in I-One-I holdings, along with the first son Dae-hyun. The holding company owns stakes in Chonhaiji, a shipbuilding unit, which in turn owns about 40 percent of the ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine.
Yoo Hyuck-ki also owns an around 10 percent stake in Ahae Corp., a paint manufacturing company, and Ahae Press Corp, while the first son also holds a majority stake in Chonghaejin and door-to-door sales company Dapanda Co.
Such cross-share holdings helped the family manage and control the entire group of companies, including more than a dozen overseas units, some of which are being implicated in the deadly sinking of the Sewol.
The elder Yoo's close aides, Kim Hye-kyung, who leads Korea Pharmaceuticals, and Kim Pil-bae, who heads Dapanda, were also notified Tuesday that they were being investigated, according to the prosecutors.
After analyzing data it secured in a raid of Chongjaejin, its affiliates and Yoo's residence earlier this week, meanwhile, investigators said they have learned that some data was deleted from their computer hard disks and some personal computers replaced.
"We will punish those responsible for deleting data in a stern manner for destroying evidence," a prosecutor said.
graceoh@yna.co.kr
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Source : http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2014/04/25/24/0302000000AEN20140425004800315F.html
