Seoul probing business man for tax evasion on profits in Kazakhstan

SEOUL, May 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's tax agency is conducting a probe into a business man suspected of evading taxes on huge profits that he made by doing business in Kazakhstan, sources said Wednesday. Cha Yong-keu, who is currently under investigation, is known for his successful business in Kazakhstan and also known as one of the wealthiest people in South Korea by making money in investment in shares and assets at home and abroad. The investigation is centering on profits that the 55-year-old business man made in the process of selling stakes in Kazakhmys, Kazakhstan's largest state-run copper mining company, according to the sources close to the probe by the National Tax Service (NTS). As an employee of Samsung C&T Corp, he was transferred to its Kazakhstan branch in 1995 and made his name known by successfully turning around the embattled Kazakhmys after he was tasked with helping run its business. Thanks to his successful performance, he was fast promoted and after Samsung became Kazakhmys' largest shareholder in 2000, Cha took its top management post. He later left the company and took over much of the stakes held from Samsung in 2004. Two years later, he re-sold some of his stakes to Samsung after listing the shares on London's stock market, making profits estimated at over 1 trillion won (US$919 million) in the process. Since then, Cha has remained out of the spotlight, but sources say that he has been staying in Hong Kong, making investments in real estate and stocks in South Korea over the past few years, sources said. The NTS suspects that Cha evaded paying due taxes on the profits earned from the share transaction. Its probe is also focused on his investment in Korea as he is suspected of avoiding taxes by using a paper company in Malaysia, the sources said.