The National Tax Service has launched a special tax investigation into the fashion platform Musinsa.
According to the industry on the 21st, the Investigation Bureau 4 of the Seoul Regional Tax Service sent investigators to Musinsa's headquarters in Seongdong District, Seoul, that day to secure tax and accounting materials. Investigation Bureau 4 handles ad hoc tax probes related to specific evasion suspicions such as tax evasion, rather than routine periodic audits.
This probe is said to be looking into transactions and cash flows between Raphel, a private company wholly owned by Chief Executive Cho Man-ho, the largest shareholder of Musinsa, and Musinsa.
Raphel is a real estate investment company that Cho established in 2020. Through its subsidiary Epcot Hannam SPC, it is pushing a senior residence development project in Hannam-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul. Epcot Hannam SPC (special purpose company) raised a 160 billion won bridge loan to acquire the project site.
In the process of arranging operating funds and borrowing fund for Raphel, Cho pledged a substantial portion of Musinsa shares held as collateral. As of the first quarter of this year, Cho's equity stake in Musinsa is 51.71%.