[THE INVESTOR] Lotte Group is suspected of giving business favors to a company controlled by its founder’s third wife Seo Mi-kyung, industry watchers said on June 17.

Seo is among those being investigated for their involvement in the retail giant’s slush fund allegations.

The 57-year-old Seo is the 1977 winner of the group’s Miss Lotte beauty pageant and has a 33-year-old daughter with Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho, now 93. 

Seo came into the limelight recently as prosecutors have widened their probe into South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate on suspicion of embezzlement and creating slush funds through dubious deals with affiliates and companies with links to the owner family.

Among them is Yuki Co., a Seoul-based food franchise firm that operates seven restaurants in Lotte Department stores.

Seo’s relative is heading the company, but she and her daughter hold majority ownership of the limited company, which is registered as a real estate rental, interior design, supermarket operation, securities investment, leisure, retail and food franchise business.

Of the 12.5 billion won (US$10.5 million) revenue last year, most came from its restaurants in Lotte Department Store’s food courts. The commission Yuki pays to the department stores has yet to be disclosed.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)