Former Daewoo shipyard CEO Nam Sang-tae walks into the office of prosecutors for questioning. [Photo by Namgung Jin-woong = timeid@]
A former Daewoo shipyard CEO was arrested Tuesday in an investigation by state prosecutors into corruption and an alleged accounting fraud aimed at covering up huge losses.
Nam Sang-tae, who headed Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering from 2006 to 2012, was put behind the bars while he was under questioning. The 66-year-old is suspected of giving business favors to a logistics company run by his friend and of embezzling company funds.
Nam was the second to be arrested this month in an intensive probe by prosecutors into allegations that former executives had manipulated financial statements to cover up huge losses.
Two weeks ago, police arrested a 46-year-old former Daewoo shipyard official who was accused of using borrowed names and fabricated documents to steal some 18 billion won ($15.3 million) for eight years.
State auditors have accused the shipyard of indulging in window dressing worth 1.5 trillion won in 2013 and 2014. They said the fraud was aimed at securing a bailout fund and hefty loans from creditors.
Daewoo Shipbuilding, one of South Korea's three top shipyards all under creditor-led restructuring, has sucked more than seven trillion won in special bank loans and taxpayers' money since 2000.
Last year, the Daewoo shipyard, hit by a delay in the construction of offshore facilities and the cancellation of orders, posted a record net loss of 5.13 trillion won, compared with a profit of 33 billion won a year earlier.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
