Eun Jin-hyuk, the former president of Intel Korea, who was under investigation by the prosecution over allegations of fraudulent transactions with SK Group, recently passed away at the age of 57. Eun was known to be the real owner of the private equity fund (PEF) operator Alchemist.
According to investment banks (IB) and the legal community on the 31st, Eun is reported to have died about a week ago in a Southeast Asian resort.
Eun served as the head of Intel's South Korea branch from 2000 and later moved to Macquarie Securities. When Macquarie Securities acquired a 49% stake in SK E&S in 2005, he was also listed as a registered director.
In 2008, Eun moved to Harbinger Capital, a company specializing in non-performing loans (NPL). At that time, SK Group also invested billions of won in Harbinger Capital.
The 6th Criminal Division of the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office has been investigating allegations that Eun directed excessive profits to Alchemist, which he owned, during SK hynix's acquisition of MagnaChip Semiconductor's foundry. Alchemist acquired the foundry for 420 billion won through a fund jointly established by SK hynix and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation in 2020, and sold it back to SK hynix for 570 billion won after 1 year and 7 months.
Additionally, the 5th Criminal Division of the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office previously indicted Eun in July of last year on charges of violating the International Tax Coordination Act in relation to overseas tax evasion allegations without detention. However, with Eun's passing, the charges are expected to be dismissed.