Supreme Court justice nominee’s daughter earned profit 63 times stock investment involving father

The daughter of Lee Suk-yeon, a Supreme Court justice nominee, was found to have made a profit 63 times her stock investment with money given by her father by selling the shares to him, data showed Tuesday. Lee's daughter, surnamed Cho, 26, sold 400 shares of the cosmetics R and D firm stock to her father for about 385 million won (US$277,636) in May last year after buying them for just 6 million won in 2017 when she was 19, according to reports that Lee submitted to Rep. Heo Young of the Democratic Party. They were part of a total of 800 shares that Cho had purchased for 12 million won with money, of which part, or 8 million won, was gifted by her father. Cho then paid the capital gains tax of around 78 million won with money inherited from her father, and the gift tax for the inheritance was also paid by him. These transactions are seen by critics as a tactic to bequeath wealth to children, albeit not unlawful. "The upper class people may argue that these conducts are routine and have no legal problems , but it certainly causes ordinary people to feel alienated or out of harmony," Rep. Heo said. Lee had initially said the profit her daughter made from the transactions amounted to 220 million won, but it was later found to be much bigger. She said the disparity came from misunderstanding and apologized, adding her daughter had additional debts owed to her dad. The parliamentary confirmation hearing for Lee is slated for Thursday. Source: Yonhap News Agency