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Lonestar has finally admitted its fault... and guess what, they will gladly pay its due taxes and fines.
Now if their main man is going to admit to their fault and shenanigans, I'd thing you should too.
Idiot, wake up. Be a man, and admit it.
1-0, cowboy up man.
Article from Korea Times.
Lone Star Promises to Pay Up
U.S. investment fund Lone Star Wednesday apologized for failing to cooperate with the Korean tax authority’s recent tax evasion probe.
According to an official of the National Tax Service (NTS), Lone Star vice chairman Ellis Short, who also serves as outside director of the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), visited the agency in Seoul.
Lone Star ``deeply apologizes’’ for not cooperating with the NTS’ investigation, refusing to turn in documents requested by the tax authority, Short was quoted as saying.
Short added that the U.S. investment fund would no longer appeal against back taxes and fines imposed on it by the NTS and pay them in full, an NTS official said. He also expressed his intention to actively cooperate with the NTS in the future.
Lone Star was among five foreign funds that have been investigated by the tax agency. The five foreign funds were fined a total of 215 billion won in penalties last September for dodging taxes. Lone Star reportedly faced the largest, 140 billion won fine.
The NTS declined to give official comment, neither confirming nor denying Short’s visit to the agency, but Short’s signature was found in the NTS headquarters’ visitor’s book.
Lone Star, which owns a 51 percent stake in the KEB, reportedly plans to sell its shares in the commercial bank, with Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank declaring their intent to take over the smaller rival.
sjkim@koreatimes.co.kr
12-14-2005 22:42
론스타 한국정부에 공식사과
탈세 혐의로 세금을 추징당한 뒤 검찰조사를 받고 있는 외국계펀드 론스타가 미국 본사 임원을 한국에 파견해 정부 당국에 공식 사과한 것으로 밝혀졌다.
외국계 펀드회사가 자본투자 및 차익실현 과정에서 발생한 행위에 대해 해당국 가 정부에 공식 사과한 것은 매우 이례적인 일이며 외국자본의 국내 투자에도 적잖은 영향을 미칠 것으로 예상된다.
14일 정부당국에 따르면 론스타 본사는 이날 오전 엘리스 쇼트 부회장을 국세 청 본청에 파견해 한국 투자 및 차익실현 과정에서 발생한 탈세추징 및 고발조 치에 대해 공식적으로 사과의사를 전달하고 향후 투자과정에서 재발 방지를 약 속했다. 이 같은 사실은 국세청을 통해 이날 청와대 국정원 재정경제부 등 정 부 유관기관에도 보고됐다.
정부 고위 당국자는 "론스타측이 본사 부회장을 국세청에 파견해 재발 방지를 약속한 것은 투자과정에서 발생한 세금탈루 혐의를 사실상 인정한 것과 같다" 고 말했다.
그 동안 론스타는 과세당국의 소득세 탈루 세금추징에 대해 공식적인 입장표명 을 유보해 왔으며 행정소송 등을 통해 조세불복 절차에 나설 가능성이 높은 것 으로 전망돼 왔다. 그러나 론스타측은 현재 보유중인 외환은행 지분(51%)을 매 각하는 과제가 남아 있고 향후 한국시장에서 지속적인 투자활동을 벌이기 위해 정부 당국과 맞서는 것은 바람직하지 않다는 판단을 내린 것으로 분석된다.
론스타펀드가 과세당국에 사실상 '백기투항'함으로써 앞으로 외국자본의 국내 투자 및 차익실현 과정도 더욱 투명해질 것으로 정부측은 기대하고 있다. 론스 타는 현재 국내에 설립한 자회사 및 자산유동화전문회사(SPC) 등 16개 법인과 스티븐 리 등 론스타의 전직 임원 4명이 탈세혐의로 검찰에 고발돼 있다.
과세당국은 그러나 "고소취하 등 후속조치는 현재 단계에서 검토하지 않고 있 다"고 밝혔다.
론스타측이 이날 국세청에 파견한 엘리스 쇼트 부회장은 미국 본사의 존 크레 이켄 회장에 이어 론스타의 실질적인 2인자로 알려졌고 론스타가 지분을 보유 중인 외환은행의 사외이사도 맡고 있는 인물이다.
론스타는 국내 부동산 투자과정에서 종합소득세 포탈혐의를 적용받아 지난 9월 국세청으로부터 1000억원대(추정
의 추징세액을 통보받은 바 있다. 국세청 조 사결과 론스타는 벨기에에 설립한 자회사를 통해 서울 역삼동의 스타타워빌딩 을 인수ㆍ매각한 뒤 2800억원에 달하는 양도차익을 남겼지만 조세회피지역 규 정을 이용해 세금을 내지 않은 것으로 드러난 바 있다.
이에 앞서 이주성 국세청장은 지난주 기자간담회에서 "세무조사를 받은 외국계 펀드는 국세청이 부과한 세금을 대부분 완납했다"며 "일부 펀드만 경영진 교체 등의 사유로 이의를 제기했지만 조만간 세금을 내고 순조롭게 과
hahaha... sure they admit it. after the korean govt threatens lone star employess with long jailtime and closing their business.
leon, do you know why hospitals settle with people that sue them even when they know they haven't done anything wrong?
again, i thought you didn't like my blog and views, so why are you still coming here?
I thought so... sore loser... you never fail to impress me. you're examples are worthless. hahaha...
whatever, jail time? hahahah. Groups like lonestar do not shit bricks over lawsuits. They possess the best lawyers and always find a way out, especially in a foreign country. Give me one American corporate official that have served jail time overseas. 1, 2, 3...
I remember you saying that lonestar and others will leave if Korea starts taxing and probing them... and how our financial markets will deteriote. Bullshit. I guess you were wrong again and I was right. They know they were acting like weasels and want to remain here. I guess this market is very IMPORTANT to them, unlike what you believe.
Financial market will thrive with or without Lonestar and Carlyle. They don't do jack for countries. And read the news, berns, regardless of our govts. probings, plethora of foreign financial firms are coming in left and right. ABN just opened up a first foreign asset management co., Prudential setting up its financial group, stock market kicking ass...
I will tell you this, changes like these are monumental and foreign firms that have been exploiting this country will start thinking twice. Now it is possible to really build a win/win relationship between foriegners and locals. I hope the same will happen for other countries that suffer from the same examples.
You try so hard to look intelligent, yet you're so far away.You really crack me up and thanks for making my day.
I used to come here when I started getting interested in blogging. Yet, I've found out that you have nothing original here. All you do is copy/paste others and its really sad. I have been coming here recently to see what other BS you write about. It's so funny how you neglect info. that negate your thoughts.
Yo, grow up please. No wake up.
lates.
sure. leon, you're a stud. maybe instead of all your noise and banter you should start a blog. it would be great to see your intelligence shine like it does here... like a 5th grader running around in a playground calling other kids names without a purpose. you seriously have to get a life.
my blog cannot be your only form of entertainment or release of the boredom of life you suffer. why don't you email me and i'll introduce you to some people i know in korea? remember making friends is a good thing... oh, one piece of advice. don't start calling them" idiot" and make random irrational statements, they might think you lack social skills
the man just can't admit things.
sore loser... idiot. hahahah
sore loser? lol. whatever, dude. you just sore that you can't effectively debate me or ever win at an intellectual level, so you keep coming back to try to win in your eyes.
your insecurity shines through your posts, but it reveals a pathetic soul. as i stated before, you like pain and embarrassment for some reason, so you keep visiting my blog that you hate so much.
you seriously need help, leon.
stop crying and give me a rebuttal.
All I hear is talk but no content.
So what's up with Lonestar? hahahahha.
i asked a question and you avoided it. i gave my rebuttal.
i love your insecurity and childish behavior... it's cute. writing "3-0," "4-0," etc. to provide security in your mind that you're winning some grand debate between us. whose judging this debate? lol. you?
anyway, get a job where it's more fulfilling than visiting a blog (my blog) of someone who you hate so much... seriously, doesn't this whole scenario strike you as odd? a bit psycho? you're sort of a virtual stalker.
I take your forfeit.
You're just talking and trying to stir up some bitch fighting here when the whole issue here is that Lonestar admitted to their fault which you thought they never did or would.
Your rebuttal is the hospital example. hahahaha..... I thought so. That's all you can give. If you're gonna bullshit your way through all this, go all the way, don't stop halfway.
You're all talk. Biggest _ullshiter I've met by far.
I come back here because we had a debate that was unsettled, until yesterday. I'm a man of my words unlike you, we started something and I back to end it, when you're running.
Wow, you finally wrote a post that was your own. Taking my advice rookie. You call that a post. Damn! Now I understand why no one leaves comments on your blog.
Coward.
Again you're just not that smart and a bit delusional. I never stated that I thought Lone Star would never admit fault. I expected them and others to cave into the pressures of the NTS investigations and reach a compromise. It's not that difficult to assume or expect such things. So again the hospital example is relevant. It's more costly to battle NTS and the Korean government especially on their home turf, so you give in. That's what Lone Star did. I'm sure you little brain can process this bit of information.
Not only are you a a bit odd, you're a liar. After this rant, I went back to the two prior insecure, angry outbursts on my blog and checked through haloscan and my blog analytics to match your IP address. You visit my blog everyday period. Why? To debate me on this unsettled issue? No, because I don't care to post on the topic everyday. Not even every week, so I don't know you visit everyday. Why don't you tell me why you visit, Leon? Maybe you can just say, "Yes, I'm an odd bird, a bit delusional, and like to stalk people whether online or offline."
Maybe I'll start a program that lists cyber-stalkers and call it "Leon's List."
Speaking of all talk. As from my prior suggestion, why don't you start a blog? Write someone if you're such a person of substance and great ideas. Please answer this challenge. Do I hear a tree falling?
Oh, and your English confuses me. You refer to me as a rookie? So you're stating that you're a veteran. A veteran of what?
Calm down dude, you're gonna get a heart attack old man.
"I expected them and others to cave into the pressures of the NTS investigations and reach a compromise."
Read your comments, you never expected this because this was the FIRST TIME something like this was admitted. Not with your mental capacity you could of expected this. Lying again... And there was not even a tiny bit of nuance that was mentioned in your old comments about this. This is BS.
Why is it more costly for Lonestar to battle this? I don't think paying up 140bn won is a pack of gum. And you've stated before how foreign private equity firms will leave if this occurs, indirectly acknowleding Korean market wasn't worth all the risk. So what do they have to lose?
"I never stated that I thought Lone Star would never admit fault." What? So now you're saying they were at fault, when all this time you were ranting how Lonestar was falsely accused by our government. I really don't get you. What are you man?
I told you I visit your blog to see what bullshit you write. Do you not ever visit blogs from the Left?
Writing a TRUE blog is too time consuming for me and I'd rather not start if I'm going to look like a two-bit blog like yours.
Dude, you need to check yourself, seriously.
Eh? Leon, I'm far from emotional in this discussion. You're the one that has taken our debates personally to the point of stalking.
Again, you should go back to ESL. I wasn't referring to my prior posts, but my thoughts on the situation in general. My world doesn't revolve around my blog as it is with you. So I'm not lying about it.
So why do you visit everyday? Maybe I read blogs of marginal interest, such as from the Left, about once a month if that. I don't have time to read things that are not in the center of my life. Is anger driving you? Hatred because I embarrass you and you like it so you keep coming back for more? You are obviously emotional invested in these discussions.
So again what are you a veteran of? Writing a "true blog"? Lame excuse. You sound like a typical insecure, native Korean corporate dude that I use to debate a few years back. Common pattern is to put down the work of others, such as his colleague, and then state that he would do better or is better without any proof. Give me something tangible or visible to show that you're not some bitter guy stuck in a Korean PR agency bore out of his mind and bitter at the world.
It's you that needs gut check on first your mental health. Second, whether you are capable for even starting a blog. Even for a month. Once you do that why don't you come back to this" two-bit blog" that you visit everyday... sounds psycho of you, huh?
Dude, you're scaring me. Look at what you're writing, it has nothing to do with our topic of discussion.
I mean look at what you're writing, it's seriously childish and psychotic.
Remember Lonestar and the doom days of Korean investment market?
Where is all your bullshit about our Backward business structure and culture. Did it just all vaporize? hmmmm...
You gotta stop bitching like a little boy and step up. Again, like always you're trying to change the discussion onto something else like me starting a blog, moving away from our main topic.
Great killer move there uncle berns. All you know how to do is run right and left, never straight on. No Heart!!
Keep up the LAME work. You should be embarassed of yourself "Uncle Tom."
So you get up at 6am in Seoul and visit my blog on a Saturday morning in Seoul? What word do you think I'm thinking now? Lol. Seriously, please get a life.
No heart, Uncle Tom, yada, yada, yada...
And please don't use my description of you back at me if you can't think of something original.
It eats at you that I'm always calm and amused at your rants, huh? You're going to have to write back now, huh? What are you doing up so early on a weekend? Watching Saturday morning cartoons?
Psychotic is original? That's your vocab... hahaha. How original...
Now you're checking up the my time frame. You're an idiot. I mean talk about psychotic.
I guess I'm seriously getting under your skin by looking at how you reply to all messages asap. How old are you Bernie? 36 or so... I can't believe how foolish you are. I can pump you up like this.
hahahah...
I just read your article again... Roh save our land...
You sound so stupid. hahaha. You have no idea, don't you. Let's bring the issues once more and go back to the crux of the debate.
And please stop zig-zagging like weasel. Here it is you sub-par, no analysis article:
'Mr. Roh, Save Our Land...'
[Opinion] One entrepreneur asks for changes in South Korean policies on foreign direct investment
Email Article Print Article Bernard Moon (bernard)
Pride fills my heart when I contemplate how quickly a nation of 48 million and an area a little smaller than my home state of Illinois has risen to become the 10th most significant world economy. A smile calmly settles into place when I reflect on how Korea picked itself up from the ashes of its economic nightmare caused by the corruption and mismanagement from its chaebols and banks.
My passport states I'm an American citizen and my principles and thinking are clearly are born from the land of Jefferson and Lincoln yet I still consider Korea my land.
So as South Korea's current administration continues towards its downward spiral in terms of public favor and President Roh Moo Hyun's approval ratings fall to the cellar, my heart drops as he continues to initiate policies that damage the long-term economic health and development of South Korea.
I see "our land" at an important nexus in its economic and national development. South Korea has become a global model in the broadband and wireless industries while continuing its worldwide leadership in consumer electronics and semiconductor technology. It has moved beyond becoming a manufacturer of quality products to a leading innovator in numerous industries.
More importantly, the nation is slowly become a significantly contributor to major advances in science. From new discoveries in stem cell research to Kim Hyun Tak's recent "Mott Insulator" invention signals the next stage of development for South Korea. In becoming an established creator of leading technology, its value and influence in the world economy will increase. But the question is will South Korea gain from these advances? Will new companies be established, new jobs created, and wealth distributed to new people? Or will the chaebols and their owners continue to reap the benefits of these advances?
I believe these questions will be answered in how effectively South Korea develops its investment infrastructure and the overall venture capital and private equity industries. These are significant engines of new job growth and new wealth creation for decades in the U.S. and a lesson for South Korea to be mindful of. So the Roh administration's treatment of foreign direct investment firms baffles me. This is a critical juncture where the nation needs to cultivate global investment and transfer of knowledge into South Korea not the opposite.
Recently, private equity firms, such as Carlyle and Newbridge, were victims of "shock audits" where the National Tax Service (NTS) stormed their offices and took away various files without warning. These and numerous other firms are being investigated while Lone Star and Carlyle have been "assessed" taxes of more than $40 million. I've heard beyond investment firms the NTS will conduct audits of more than 140 foreign firms. This is a witch-hunt based on either stupidity or reflective of a desperate administration attempting to gain some positive national sentiment.
It seems to me that the Roh administration is not only desperate but lazy. They are taking the path of least resistance in dealing with the growing negative sentiment against foreign investment firms in Korea, which has grown over the past few years. While this mantra works in developing consumer products, what is really needed here are intelligent and informed decisions by South Korea's government.
It is easy to rally the uninformed elderly or ignorant college students about the evils of foreign investment. It takes courage and leadership to explain what really happens. How foreign investment firms only reap the benefit of their investment if they improve the operations of a company, which in turns benefits consumers and the overall industry, and how most do not even make a return worth their investment in the end. The real benefit of private equity and a real venture capital industry is the transfer of knowledge into South Korea's management and entrepreneurial talent, which it still sorely needs.
If President Roh really wants to redistribute wealth and create a real middle class in South Korea, part of his policy should be to foster a healthy entrepreneurial environment and where new companies have other opportunities beyond just getting crush by a chaebol in the domestic market or selling out to a chaebol. What does he do instead? His administration recently announces that foreign funds registered in previously agreed upon tax havens can be charged capital gains.
Please, President Roh, stop this madness. If you really are interested in the long-term health of South Korea and not satisfying some ignorant activists, please reconsider your policies against foreign direct investment. If you continue down this path, foreign capital will redirect itself to other markets. In this era where China is becoming more significant, South Korea is rapidly losing its luster and it should be doing the opposite in this new competitive landscape.
Do you expect to create an insular investment industry? I sincerely hope not because it will only create poorly manage investment funds similar to the banks a decade ago and probably a significant amount of corruption.
Are you really doing this for the health of Korea or the health of your approval ratings? Polls come and go, but these policies against foreign investment firms can effect generations to come. Is this the legacy your really want to leave behind? Please, President Roh, save our land and work for our future not against it."
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