Samsung Family's $4 Billion Tax Strategy Dragged Into Spotlight
- Chairman Lee Kun-hee is linked to almost 1,500 accounts
- About $4.3 billion of assets have been linked to Lee
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Ordinary families might stash spare cash under a mattress or in a safety deposit box. South Korea’s Lee family are so rich they spent years leaving billions of dollars under the names of their employees.
This strategy is back in the spotlight after first being exposed in an investigation by prosecutors that led to the 2009 conviction of Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Kun-hee. He was found guilty of evading taxes through borrowed names and handed a suspended prison sentence. He was pardoned at the end of 2009 to help the country win its bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.