A South Korean court will rule on the prosecutors’ arrest warrant request for the chairman of the Lotte Group after holding a hearing on Wednesday (September 28), following a criminal probe into the sprawling retail-to-chemicals conglomerate.
“I will sincerely answer the court’s questions. I am sorry for causing concerns,” Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin told reporters before attending the closed hearing at Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday morning.
South Korean prosecutors made the request on Monday for the court to approve the arrest of Shin, 61, on suspicion of embezzlement and breach of trust for activities involving about 170 billion won ($153.52 million), a prosecution source with direct knowledge of the matter said previously.
There is no fixed time for the court to make a ruling, a Seoul Central District Court judge who acts as court spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday.
The court had previously rejected prosecution requests for the arrest of two other Lotte executives during the investigation, which became public in June.
The retail-to-chemical conglomerate had assets valued by the government at 103.3 trillion won ($94.32 billion) as of April.
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