Police Ban Departure of Kim Man-bae, Major Shareholder of 'Hwacheon Daeyu', and 7 Others (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The police investigating allegations of preferential treatment in the Daejang-dong development project in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, have imposed travel bans on key figures including Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management (Hwacheon Daeyu).

According to the police on the 1st, the dedicated investigation team of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency imposed travel bans on eight related individuals including Kim the day before. The list reportedly includes Kim, former Hwacheon Daeyu CEO Lee Seong-moon, and Lee Han-seong, CEO of affiliated company Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1.

The police are intensively investigating suspicious financial flows related to Hwacheon Daeyu. After receiving notification of this matter from the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Financial Services Commission in April, the police conducted a preliminary investigation before formal charges. When a civic group filed a complaint on the 28th of last month, all related cases were assigned to the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency to unify the investigation.

Previously, the prosecution also imposed travel bans on key figures related to this incident, and some of those individuals reportedly overlap with those targeted by the police this time.

Meanwhile, the police have increased the dedicated investigation team personnel from 38 to 62 members and elevated the investigation chief to the head of the investigation department (Senior Superintendent) to fully concentrate on the investigation. The National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters (Guksubon) has formed a comprehensive response team to lead focused investigative command.

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