Korean Esports Association offices raided in Lotte Group link

Korean Esports Association offices raided in Lotte Group link

Investigators have raided the primary offices of the Korean Esports Association over allegations of suspicious relationships with the conglomerate Lotte Group.

It’s not easy having a Korean father-in-law. Asking him to, ‘pass the tangerine,’ is soaked in difficulty. It’s hard to connect when you don’t share a language, like two gravediggers setting to work, one minus a spade.

Korean Esports Association offices raided in Lotte Group linkWe connect through television.

After working harder than a pre-nesting wren, he sits down in his chair with his chopsticks, Banchan and a remote control. We watch the Korean news, and it’s through this shared experience that I learned that Lotte is the fifth largest conglomerate in South Korea, with more than 90 firms selling anything and everything.

The Lotte Group was in the news yesterday after South Korean news sites reported that investigators had raided the primary offices of the Korean Esports Association (KeSPA) following corruption charges involving the Lotte Group.

According to those press reports, the investigation revolves around an unnamed KeSPA President (almost certainly, Jeon Byung-Hun) who in 2015, received illegal funds from Lotte Homeshopping, including a $270,000 sponsorship deal where the Lotte subsidiary sponsored the KeSPA Cup. Local TV channels report that investigators have arrested three people. KeSPA representatives told social media followers that all the money received from Lotte came from legitimate sources.

Lotte: a Troubled Past 

“Corrupt,” said my Dad in between mouthfuls on Kimchi.

The integrity of the Lotte Group has been under intense scrutiny in recent years.

In June 2016, over 200 officials raided numerous Lotte subsidiaries investigating allegations of embezzlement, tax evasion, and a broad variety of financial scams.

Those investigations forced the Lotte Group to abandon a planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) that experts believe would have made them the largest conglomerate in South Korea after estimating the IPO would have created $4.73 billion. Lotte Chemicals also withdrew from bidding for the Axiall Corporation because of the investigation.

Two months later, and Lotte Shopping CEO and longtime executive of the Lotte Group, Lee In-won, committed suicide days before he was due to be investigated by prosecutors. The 69-year-old hanged himself on a tree in Seoul.

In March of this year, Lotte group founder Shin Kyuk-ho was indicted on a range of charges including embezzlement, fraud, and tax evasion. Sitting in a wheelchair, and suffering from the onset of dementia, the judge told Kyuk-ho to calm down when he threw his cane to the floor and demanded to know who was responsible for the indictment. Officials locked up Kyuk-ho’s daughter, Shin Young-Ja, in July, where she will stay for three-years after being found guilty of an array of financial irregularities.

The Lotte Group is said to be worth an estimated £66 billion.

It began in 1948 as a chewing gum manufacturer.

Even Donald Gets Involved 

The Lotte Group appeared on my father-in-law’s TV because 80% of their Chinese shops have the shutters drawn, as part of a backlash against the Lotte Group. The Koreans provided the land so Donald Trump’s gang could set up their Terminal High Altitude Defence (THAAD) system used for protecting South Korea and the US from the Rocket Man seated on his throne in the North. China was a little pissed.

The Final Word on KeSPA 

KeSPA recently saw their Integrated Korean Olympic Committee status dropped from “Official Member” to “Reserve Member” after failing to retain the conditions that maintained their Olympic status, namely owning six branches with an office in each. KeSPA had not established an official branch and as it violated Olympic rules, the downgrading took place.

According to NewZoo, South Korea possesses 4.5 million sports enthusiasts, draws in $4.2 billion in total gaming revenue, and the country has 36.3m smartphone users. But when it comes to gambling the country is still a little fickle around the issue with very tight laws preventing Koreans from having a flutter.

I asked my father-in-law what he thought about gambling, and he passed me the gammon.

I’m not sure he understood the question.