A South Korean district court has turned down a request to arrest the head of US buyout fund Lone Star's unit, a judge at the court said on Saturday, a move that may slow prosecutors' investigation into the fund.
Prosecutors had sought to arrest Cheong Hon-choo, the head of Hudson Advisors Korea, for questioning on suspected embezzlement as part of a probe into whether Lone Star illegally transferred funds overseas and made false reports on the remittances.
They are also looking for any possible irregularities during Lone Star's 2003 purchase of Korea Exchange Bank "He did not look like a person who was running away," Lee Sang-ju, the judge who reviewed the warrant request at the Seoul Central District Court, told Reuters by telephone.
"He has been summoned and questioned since last year and still works as the head of Hudson Advisors. Given that prosecutors secured a lot of documents after searching (Lone Star) offices, it is difficult to say there is more evidence he can destroy."
Cheong and a spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, which sought the arrest warrant on Wednesday, were not immediately available for comment.
The Seoul-based court also rejected a warrant request in May to arrest Paul Yoo, president of Lone Star Advisors Korea, another local unit, for alleged violations of foreign currency law and improper transfers of assets overseas.
Lone Star Advisors Korea oversees the fund's investments in South Korea, while Hudson manages assets at Lone Star-invested, special-purpose companies.
In February, South Korea's financial regulator reported both Hudson Advisors and Lone Star Advisors to prosecutors for alleged violations of foreign currency law, and in March prosecutors raided Lone Star's offices.
Lone Star Chairman John Grayken told a news conference in Seoul in April that Steven Lee, former head of Lone Star's South Korean operations, had been fired for misappropriating funds and would be sued by the company.
Comments
Comments are closed.