LEE TO PAY FINANCIAL PENALTIES

[Anchor Lead]

As well as his jail term, former President Lee Myung-bak has also been fined and ordered to forfeit illicit income. Attention is on how he will pay the 20 billion wons worth of financial penalties. Lee may have to file a suit to claim his holding in an auto parts company, which he has denied to have ownership.

[Pkg]

A fine of 13 billion won and a forfeit of nearly 5.8 billion won. This is what the imprisoned former President Lee Myung-bak has to pay in addition to his jail term. Before delivering the sentence of the monetary penalties, the court imposed a ban on the arbitrary disposal of Lee's assets worth 11.1 billion won, including his house in Nonhyeon-dong in Seoul and a factory in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do Province. In order to pay the forfeit, the former president's family will have to auction off their house and move out. But his assets are not enough to cover both the forfeit and fine, which total nearly 19 billion won. Lee said in court that the house is all he has and he cannot pay the fines. But the latest court ruling concluded the former president is the actual owner of the auto parts firm DAS. Currently, the ownership belongs to the family of the late Kim Jae-jeong, Lee's brother-in-law. Therefore, Lee will have to reverse his previous position and file a civil suit to claim back his holding in the company. He will then have to sell the shares to pay the fines. Prosecutors plan to soon send an order for Lee to pay the fine and forfeit. Under the current law, the 78-year-old will have to perform labor instead if he fails to pay the fines in a month. But it is highly likely that he will be exempt, given his old age and underlying illnesses.