From chaebol to prison: Samsung heiress’s ex-husband jailed over elder abuse case

Im Woo-jae, the ex-husband of Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin, is in prison after being found guilty of involvement in confining and assaulting an elderly woman, news reports said Friday.

The 57-year-old former consultant at Samsung Electro-Mechanics, who was married to Lee from 1999 until their divorce in 2020, was sentenced to a year in prison for obstruction of official duties by deception after attempting to cover up his girlfriend’s elaborate scheme that involved confining and assaulting a woman in her 80s.

Im’s girlfriend, surnamed Park and identified as a shaman in her 40s, ordered a man in his 30s, from whom she had borrowed money for stock investments, to confine his grandmother at a home in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province, in April last year. Park instructed him to keep her under watch and assault her if she resisted.

Police said the man, who allowed the couple to live in a container on a farm owned by his father, appeared to have been psychologically manipulated by them.

But the elderly woman managed to escape and reported the case to police, after which her grandson fabricated a fake suicide note to make it appear that she had taken her own life, in an apparent attempt to obstruct the police investigation.

Investigators found that Im was behind the scheme, helping the grandson have the woman’s other granddaughter write the note. Security camera footage showed his vehicle driving off with her.

“The defendant, despite being aware of a co-conspirator’s crime, obstructed the execution of official duties by investigative authorities. The nature of the offense is grave, as the defendant took part in fabricating evidence and continues to deny the charges,” the court said, adding that the evidence supported all the charges against him.

Park received a heavier prison term of six years on charges including special confinement and obstruction of official duties by deception, while the grandson, accused of directly assaulting the victim, was sentenced to three years in prison. Im has appealed the ruling, and the case is currently under review in a higher court.

The downfall of a man who was once part of a chaebol family has shocked the public. His marriage to the eldest daughter of late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee made headlines at the time, but the couple later filed for divorce in October 2014, effectively ending their marriage after about 15 years.

The legal battle ended in 2020, when the Supreme Court granted Lee custody and parental rights and awarded Lim 14.1 billion won (currently $9.5 million) in a property settlement.

cjh@heraldcorp.com