Police Investigate Former Namyang Dairy Chairman's Family Over Luxury Sofa Bought with Company Funds

Police have launched an investigation into allegations that the family of former Namyang Dairy Products Chairman Hong Won-sik purchased an expensive sofa worth around 150 million won using company funds and kept it at their private residence.

The Seoul Gangnam Police Station is currently investigating Lee, former advisor to Namyang Dairy and wife of the former chairman, along with their son, former Namyang Dairy executive Hong, on charges of professional breach of trust.

They are accused of using approximately 154 million won in company funds in 2018 to purchase the high-end sofa under the pretext of placing it in a restaurant business store being promoted by Namyang Dairy, and instead placing it at Lee's home.

The sofa in question was designed by the Swiss architect and designer Pierre Jeanneret, and police secured the item after discovering it at Lee's residence.

At the time, the former executive Hong was in charge of Namyang Dairy's overall restaurant business, while former advisor Lee reportedly participated as the actual manager of the restaurant business.

Police plan to investigate all aspects of the suspicions, including whether the actual purchase of the sofa was intended for use in the restaurant business.

The two previously received guilty verdicts for misappropriating company funds amounting to around 3.7 billion won.

In January, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced former advisor Lee to two and a half years in prison suspended for four years, and former executive Hong to two years in prison suspended for four years.

Reported by Park Se-won | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Design by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.