Korean money man Yoo Chan Kim in $500m dispute with Sydney businessman Ed Lee

He promised $1 million to the Charlie Teo Foundation shortly after arriving in Sydney, now Korean political heavyweight Yoo Chan Kim is in the middle of a $500 million business brawl that has been referred to police.

He is the aspiring Korean presidential candidate and international money man who is known to his inner ­circle as “Mr Chairman”.

During his career in South Korean politics, Yoo Chan Kim sparked one of the Asian nation‘s biggest political scandals when he accused a future president of ordering him to commit perjury while he worked as a political adviser.

Now the 60-year-old is at the centre of a NSW Police investigation thanks to his big money business dealings in Sydney. And he also failed to pay a $1 million pledge he made to the charity of Sydney brain surgeon Charlie Teo.

The police investigation involves multimillion-dollar allegations made against Mr Kim by 50-year-old Sydney businessman, Ed Lee.

Mr Lee claims Mr Kim ­offered to lend him money from a “mega fund” he managed for a number of inter­national investors, which was worth at least $3 trillion.

Yoo Chan Kim and his wife Hyun Ja with Dr Charlie Teo at the fundraising ball in which Kim pledged $1 million to the Charlie Teo Foundation charity.

Mr Lee alleges he paid Mr Kim a $1.25 million administration fee in an alleged deal where he was to receive a $500 million loan that was to be used to build a private hospital in Baulkham Hills.

But Mr Lee, 50, claims he never received the $500 million and that Mr Kim, who has since returned to Korea, has not repaid his $1.2 million. Mr Lee also alleges he lent Mr Kim a further $200,000 that has also not been repaid.

Mr Kim planned to run as a candidate in the 2022 Kor­ean presidential elections and Mr Lee claims he lent the money to help fund the political campaign.

Mr Lee reported the matter to the NSW Police Financial Crimes Squad in March. On Thursday, a NSW Police spokeswoman confirmed the squad is investigating and that “inquiries continue”.

In response to The Sunday Telegraph’s questions, Mr Kim said Mr Lee was at fault.

Mr Kim claimed Mr Lee asked him to transfer the money to a Hong Kong bank but then “failed to properly process his investment funds” resulting in him not being able to access the money.

“Instead, he is dealing with this in an unsportsmanlike and extremely unusual way, such as spreading bad news around, filing a complaint with the police…,” Mr Kim said.

Mr Kim said he did not steal the $1.2 million and it would be returned after Mr Lee makes a formal application to terminate the loan agreement.

Mr Lee claims this has ­already occurred and that he visited Mr Kim’s offices every day for six months asking about the money.

“I entered into a financial advisory contract with him in accordance with the procedures, charged an application fee according to the procedures and performed my obligations,” Mr Kim said.

Mr Lee has now hired top Sydney lawyer Paul McGirr who confirmed that a civil case was being prepared against Mr Kim.

“I have been instructed to hunt down Mr Kim to the ends of the earth to have Mr Lee’s money returned,” Mr McGirr said on Friday.

Korean politics

In addition to his career in international finance, Mr Kim has been involved in South Korean politics for several decades.

In the mid 1990s, he worked as a political adviser to politician Lee Myung-bak, who went on to serve as the country’s president from 2008 to 2013. In 2007, when Lee was running for president, Mr Kim went public with accusations that his ex boss had broken election laws in the 1990s and that he was paid $180,000 for him to cover it up. Mr Kim claimed he was paid $24,000 to leave South Korea.

Lee Myung-bak during his time as president of South Korea. Picture: AAP/Yonhap

President Lee was sentenced to 15 years jail in 2018 after being convicted on unrelated bribery and embezzlement offences.

In the years after making the allegations, Mr Kim said he focused on finance work in Hong Kong. In late 2020, he set up shop in Sydney.

According to business records, he established three companies with variations on the name SIBC. They were registered at various offices and high-end locations, including a $5 million Macquarie St apartment.

Charlie Teo Foundation

In May 2021, Mr Kim and his wife, Hyun Ja “Rosa” Kim, ­attended the Charlie Teo ­Foundation’s Rebel Ball where they publicly pledged a massive donation to the charity.

The couple were cheered by those in attendance when Mrs Kim made a startling pledge while being interviewed by the event’s host Ben Fordham.

“ … (Mr Teo) is the special version of the Australian community and we are putting our hands up and my husband is planning to support the institute for $1.5 billion,” Mrs Kim told the audience.

Ben Fordham talks to Yoo Chan Kim and his wife at the charity event.

However, she may have been mistaken as Mr Fordham announced to the audience — and later media reports also said — the figure was $1 million.

The Foundation did not respond to questions as to whether the donation had been paid to the charity.

In his response email to The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Kim said the money had not been paid. He explained this was because of a banking administration issue that prevented him from transferring the funds to an Australian bank. He said he had explained this to Dr Teo.

One of the issues, Mr Kim said, was that the bank acc­ounts for his Sydney based company had been “frozen”.

Meeting Ed Lee

Mr Lee and Mr Kim met through mutual friends in June 2021. During a meeting at a hotel in Baulkham Hills, Mr Lee presented his plan for the hospital to Mr Kim.

Yoo Chan Kim is at the centre of a NSW Police investigation involving his business dealings in Sydney.

Mr Lee claims he transferred the $1.2 million to Mr Kim via eight bank transfers between July 16 and July 26 in anticipation of receiving $500 million.

As part of the alleged agreement, Mr Lee claims he was to receive the money within 45 days or his $1.25 million deposit would be ­refined via a bank cheque from Mr Kim’s company.

Mr Lee began to suspect there was a problem when nothing happened after seven days. Mr Lee claims he visited Mr Kim’s office every day for six months asking about the money, but was rebuffed.

Mr President

On September 21, Mr Lee claims he transferred a further $200,000 loan to Mr Kim, which he has not repaid. This was to help fund Mr Kim’s bid to be elected in the 2022 South Korean presidential elections.

Mr Lee claims the pair made a verbal agreement that Mr Kim would repay the money, which has not happened. Mr Kim did not answer The Sunday Telegraph’s question as to whether there was agreement for him to repay the $200,000.

Instead, he said Mr Lee failed on a promise to send him 49 million euros to use for his campaign, which caused his bid for the presidency to fail.

“Because of that, I had to give up my dream of the death of the president and wait again for the next five years,” Mr Kim said.

Mr Kim said he left Australia for Korea on December 3 to “to run for the 20th Presidential Election”. He said he would return to Australia if police requested to speak to him.

Unfinished business

Mr Kim said he still hoped to invest money in Australia.

“That‘s the secret that I’ve been able to work without noise in this field for the past 18 years,” Mr Kim said.

“I am hoping to make a large investment in Australia if the opportunity arises.”

But he was critical of Australia’s banking system, saying it “does not yet have the institutional conditions to attract and operate large-scale international investment funds”.

“Australian banks are too closed and authoritarian. Closing personal or business accounts for no reason,” he said.