Steven Lee (54, Korean name Lee Jeong-hwan, U.S. nationality), the key figure in the 'Woori Bank fire sale' case, has been arrested in the United States. It has been 17 years since the Ministry of Justice requested his extradition.
The Ministry of Justice announced on the 5th that Lee was arrested in New Jersey, USA, on the 2nd (local time) in cooperation with U.S. authorities.
Lee is considered a key figure in uncovering the 'eat-and-run' suspicion that Lone Star, a U.S.-based private equity fund, bought Woori Bank at a fire sale price in 2003, then resold it for a huge profit and withdrew from Korea. It is known that during Lone Star's acquisition and sale of Woori Bank, Lee closely discussed contract details with Korean policy officials and financial sector figures.
After civic groups and the National Assembly repeatedly filed complaints, the prosecution launched an investigation in 2006, but Lee had already fled to the U.S. in September 2005. Accordingly, the prosecution suspended the indictment against Lee in 2006 and requested his extradition from the U.S. At that time, the prosecution announced that Lee was suspected of breach of trust, tax evasion, and embezzlement related to the illegal sale of Woori Bank and manipulation of profit rates.
In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that Lee must pay 7.8 billion KRW in income tax to the Korean National Tax Service. In August 2017, he was arrested in Italy but was released by the local court's decision.
The previously stalled procedures began to accelerate last year when the Ministry of Justice's new leadership took office and conducted a full review of the Lone Star case. The Ministry of Justice explained that the trigger was when Ino Gong, Deputy Minister of Justice, held a bilateral meeting with a senior delegation from the U.S. Department of Justice during the 'Asia-Pacific Regional Criminal Justice Forum' held in Japan last month and requested the swift progress of Lee's extradition process.
The Ministry of Justice analyzed the latest information on Lee's whereabouts in the U.S. and provided it to U.S. authorities. Based on this information, the U.S. District Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey was able to arrest Lee. The Ministry of Justice stated that it will cooperate with the U.S. side to conduct Lee's extradition trial and promptly repatriate him.
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