Arrest warrant for Lotte Group chairman

1South Korean prosecutors asked a court to approve an arrest warrant for the chairman of the Lotte Group conglomerate on suspicion of embezzlement and breach of trust, Reuters reported.

The arrest warrant request comes after Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin, 61, was questioned by prosecutors in an investigation that has battered the country’s fifth-largest family-run business group since it became public in June.

It further adds to the uncertainty for the retail-to-chemicals group, which was riven last year by a bitter public feud between Shin and his older brother over who would succeed their father, the 93-year-old founder of the conglomerate.

The investigation into Lotte has already derailed a planned US$4.5 billion initial public offering by the group’s Hotel Lotte arm, thwarted billions of dollars in potential acquisitions and served as the backdrop of the apparent suicide of one of the group’s top executives last month.