South Korea's prosecution on Friday emphatically rejected a foreign press report that criticized its investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing by the U.S. equity fund Lone Star.
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that many financial industry players in Seoul consider the investigation a "witch-hunt" and expect it to put a significant dent in investors' trust with its changing parameters and repeatedly delayed deadlines. The newspaper also said the inquiry was being driven by economic nationalism and lacked consistency and predictability.
"The report in the Financial Times is far from the truth and is biased," Kang Chan-woo, a spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, said in a refutation released to reporters before being sent to the British newspaper. The delivery of the response will be made in a few days after translation into English, he said.
"It is the common global standard by countries pursuing a transparent market economy to strictly punish bribery, stock manipulation, tax evasion and other white-collar crimes," he said.
The Seoul prosecution is looking into such criminal charges against Lone Star Funds "according to fair and legitimate procedures," he stressed.
The Dallas, Texas-based company has been under investigation over allegations that it manipulated the stock price of the Korea Exchange Bank's (KEB) credit card arm to cut Lone Star's purchase price for the card company in 2003. Lone Star is the largest shareholder of the KEB. Prosecutors claim the manipulation caused about 22.6 billion won in losses to its smaller shareholders.
Lone Star has also been under investigation by prosecutors since March over allegations that the financial strength of the KEB was deliberately underestimated to help the fund purchase a majority stake in the troubled bank at a below-market price.
Seoul, Nov. 24 (Yonhap News)
S. Korean prosecution refutes foreign press report on Lone Star probe |
