Kim Man-bae, a major shareholder in Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, was arrested on suspicion of hiding criminal proceeds from the Daejang-dong business.
Kim Jung-min, chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, issued an arrest warrant after reviewing the arrest warrants for Choi Woo-hyang, director of Hwacheon Daeyu and former vice chairman of Ssangbangul Group, and Lee Han-seong, co-representative of Hwacheon Daeyu.
Chief Judge Kim explained the reason for the issuance of the warrant, saying, "There is a fear of destroying evidence and a fear of fleeing."
They are accused of concealing 26 billion won worth of money, such as extracting the proceeds from the development of Daejang-dong as checks, hiding them and storing them, or purchasing real estate under borrowed names through false accounting.
The prosecution is said to have persuaded the judge that it is essential to secure a new recruit to confirm that additional criminal proceeds were hidden as there were not a few suspicious money transactions between the two and Mr. Kim during the examination.
It is known that the two claimed that after the corruption investigation of the Daejang-dong development began in September of last year, the Hwacheon Daeyu corporate account could be seized, so they found the company's operating funds in advance by check, not concealing criminal proceeds.
(Photo = Yonhap News)