A Seoul court will hold the first hearing on the chief of the country's retail giant Lotte Group and his family members this week over a string of corporate crime allegations, legal sources said Sunday.

The first hearing on Chairman Shin Dong-bin, his older brother Shin Dong-joo, and their father and group founder Shin Kyuk-ho will be held at the Seoul Central District Court on Monday at 2 p.m.

After a four-month investigation into the country's fifth-largest conglomerate, prosecutors indicted the three in October on multiple charges, including embezzlement and breach of trust, for allegedly misappropriating some tens of billions of won of corporate assets.

The group founder's daughter Shin Young-ja and his third wife, Seo Mi-kyung, were indicted earlier on charges of tax evasion.

Shin Young-ja was sentenced to three years in prison by the same court in January for embezzlement and breach of trust, in the first ruling against members of the family running the business group.

It is unclear whether Seo will appear in court. She was put on trial without going through a face-to-face interrogation with prosecutors as she rejected multiple summons.

The court earlier said that it will issue an arrest warrant if the common-law wife of Shin does not appear at the hearing. It is mandatory for all defendants to attend their hearings.

Along with the family, a number of former and current executives of the group will stand trial for their alleged involvement in the irregularities. (Yonhap)

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