Police Transfer 'Lime Boss' Kim Bong-hyun to Prosecution on Embezzlement Charges at Suwon Passenger Transport

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Kim Bong-hyun, chairman of Star Mobility, who has been identified as the mastermind behind the 'Lime scandal,' has been handed over to the prosecution on charges of embezzling company funds from Suwon Passenger Transport, a bus company in Gyeonggi Province.

The Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency on the 1st arrested and sent Chairman Kim to the prosecution on charges including embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Chairman Kim is accused of conspiring with A, the former executive director in charge of finance at Suwon Passenger Transport, to embezzle 24.1 billion KRW of Suwon Passenger Transport's funds from October 2018 to January last year. A is currently on the run.

The actual amount of money that disappeared was revealed to be 15.5 billion KRW. Chairman Kim and others returned 8.6 billion KRW of the embezzled funds to Suwon Passenger Transport's account. The police tracked the usage of 8.9 billion KRW out of the 15.5 billion KRW and confirmed that Chairman Kim personally used the funds to acquire Interbulls, a machinery equipment company, repay loans, and invest. After being acquired by Chairman Kim, Interbulls changed its name to the current Star Mobility in July last year.

Regarding the 6.6 billion KRW whose usage has not been confirmed, Chairman Kim is reported to claim that it was used to acquire another company. He also denies all charges, stating that he only borrowed money from A and had no involvement in embezzlement.

Chairman Kim suddenly went into hiding in December last year when an arrest warrant was issued against him in connection with this case. He evaded capture for about five months until he was arrested by the police in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, on the 23rd of last month.

The embezzlement case involving Suwon Passenger Transport is also linked to the Lime scandal. Before Chairman Kim and others embezzled company funds, Suwon Passenger Transport was acquired by Company B. It is understood that Company B borrowed acquisition funds from the Lime side. In exchange for lending the acquisition funds to Company B, the Lime side demanded that A be employed as an executive, and after becoming the executive director, A embezzled company funds and fled.

The police plan to conduct supplementary investigations to uncover the full details of the Suwon Passenger Transport case, including the capture of the fugitive A. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, which is in charge of investigating the Lime scandal, is also expected to take over Chairman Kim and intensify the investigation into the Lime scandal.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.