One of the seniormost executives at South Korea's Lotte Group was found dead on Friday, a suspected suicide, hours before he was to be questioned by prosecutors conducting a criminal probe into the family-run conglomerate. Lotte Group, in a text message to reporters, said it confirmed the death of Vice Chairman Lee In-won through police and other sources. Police were trying to confirm the body was Lee's, it said, adding that a suicide note was found in the executive's car. "He oversaw Lotte Group's overall housekeeping and core businesses and accurately understood the minds of Chairman-in-Chief Shin Kyuk-ho and Chairman Shin Dong-bin to be carried out well in subsidiary companies," Lotte Group said in a statement. Park Ju-gun, head of corporate analysis firm CEO Score, said Lee's death was likely to hamper the investigation.

Source: The Star August 26, 2016 05:03 UTC