Two executives of U.S. equity fund Lone Star who were asked by South Korea's prosecution last week to come to Seoul to face an investigation into their alleged manipulation of a South Korean credit card company's share prices have refused to comply with the summons, Seoul prosecutors said Monday.
South Korea's Supreme Prosecutors' Office (SPO) sent a summons last Thursday to Lone Star Vice Chairman Ellis Short and General Counsel Michael Thompson, both in the United States, asking them to report to the South Korean prosecution by 10 a.m. Monday.
"Thompson sent an e-mail to the Seoul prosecution Sunday evening saying he and Short are unable to come to Seoul," said Chae Dong-wook, a prosecutor at the SPO.
"The prosecution is planning to ask for a warrant to arrest the two Americans later this week, as soon as it completes extradition-related negotiations with the Justice Ministry and the Foreign Ministry. We'll take all possible measures to gain the custody of Short and Thompson," he said.
The two executives of the Lone Star headquarters are suspected of manipulating the stock prices of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB)'s credit card unit in November 2003 after Lone Star's takeover of the bank.
Prosecutors have delivered summonses to the suspects six times since Oct. 24, but the Americans have refused to travel to South Korea to face criminal investigation.
A local court has rejected the prosecutors' second application for arrest warrants for the Lone Star officials, saying it was unclear whether they directly profited from the alleged manipulation. Chae said the prosecution is moving to file a third request.
Seoul and Washington have a criminal extradition treaty that allows for the transfer of criminals and those suspected of having committed a crime. But it is unclear whether the court will accept the third request.
Meanwhile, the SPO on Monday requested arrest warrants against former assistant minister of finance Byeon Yang-ho and Ha Jong-sun, president of Hyundai Marine and Fire Insurance, on charges of accepting kickbacks in return for their support for Lone Star's acquisition of KEB.
Byeon is suspected of colluding with Lee Kang-won, the jailed former president of the KEB, to manipulate the bank's financial health ratio to help facilitate the U.S. private fund's takeover of the lender in 2003, when he was serving as head of the Finance Ministry's financial policy bureau. In return for the alleged collusion, Byeon is suspected of having attracted 40 billion won in investment from the KEB to Vogo Investment which he now heads, prosecutors said.
Ha is also accused of accepting 2 billion won from Lone Star after he provided legal advisory service to the U.S. company in the second half of 2003, when he was working as a lawyer, said the prosecutors.
SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Yonhap)
Lone Star executives reject summons from Korean prosecution |
